Suicide ideation is a growing phenomenon that can be observed in stressful environments such as those of a correctional official, and it is a cause for concern. Suicide ideation is seen as the first step of suicidal behaviour and refers to thoughts, cognitions and overt intent to kill oneself. The root causes for correctional officials experiencing such a severe state of hopelessness that they feel death must be the only escape, can be ascribed to different factors. The objective of this research is to establish the relationship between psychological strengths, stress and suicide ideation of employees of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS). Three concepts of psychological strength namely locus of control, sense of coherence and affect as independent variables, were compared, with suicide ideation as a dependant variable. The relationship between suicide ideation and stress as an independent variable was also established. A cross-sectional design was used. A simple random sample (n=157) was taken from correctional officers from a management area in the Freestate Province. The Work Locus of Control Scale, Orientation to Life Questionnaire, Affectometer 2, and the Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire were administered. In addition, the Correctional Officer Stress Inventory was developed and administered. Principal component and factor extraction with Oblique rotation, Cronbach alpha and inter-item correlation coefficients, factor analysis, a discriminant analysis and a stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Results showed that positive affect and external locus of control were associated with suicide ideation. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

If the way employees die is a direct cause of their working environment, the employer has a certain responsibility to address or prevent these contributing conditions in the environment. Research reports indicate that police officers have higher suicide rates compared to the rates of the general population. Increasing suicide rates for police officers in recent years have been reported for the United States and Australia. Very limited research data for this phenomenon, especially within the South African Police Service, Limpopo Province was found. Previous research on suicide ideation focused on social and individual factors. A research project was launched to determine the relationship between certain demographic variables, coping strategies and stress factors which can be linked to suicide. Research was conducted by means of a cross-sectional survey design. A random, stratified sample (n=204) of uniformed police members was taken from police stations in the province. The Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, the Police Stress Inventory, the Coping Orientations to the Problems Experienced Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire were administered. Results of a stepwise discriminant analysis showed that the combination of race, the use of seeking emotional support as coping strategy and size of police stations can predict 75% of high suicide ideation cases and 25% of low ideation cases. It was found that 5,88% of the police officials had significant suicide ideation levels. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Suicidal behaviour is one of the most tragic events in human life causing serious emotional, spiritual, medical, social and psychological distress for individuals, family and fiends. In addition, it imposes a great economic problem for the individual, family, and society. In the South African Police Service an alarming rate of 4 per 10 000 suicides has been indicated in previous years. Due to the escalation of suicide rates it is regarded as a major public health concern. Several studies have been done regarding suicide and law enforcement agencies but few regarding suicide ideation in law enforcement agencies. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship among coping, stress and suicide ideation of police officials in the Gauteng Province within the SAPS. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A random, stratifies sample was taken from police officials in the Gauteng Province (n = 266). The Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, Police Stress Inventory, the COPE Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire were administered. The results of this study indicated that the factors that predict suicide ideation best are the following: a previous suicide attempt, passive coping styles, to be charged in terms of the disciplinary code, medical conditions and gender. The results also indicated that 9,02% of the sample showed significant levels of suicide ideation. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation among youth in sub-Saharan Africa and to evaluate differences in such prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation to identify how risk behaviors vary by gender across country settings. METHODS: Analyses are based on the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) conducted in Botswana (N=2197; 2005), Kenya (N=3691; 2003), Tanzania (N=2176; 2006), Uganda (N=3215; 2003) and Zambia (N=2257; 2004) of students primarily 13 to 16 years of age. Logistic regression analyses were computed to determine the associations between correlates (i.e., hunger, current alcohol use, problem drinking, bullying victimization, sadness, loneliness, worrying, having no close friends, missed school, illicit drug use, physical fights, physical attacks and early sexual initiation) and suicidal ideation for all students and between boys and girls. RESULTS: The results showed variability in the prevalence of suicidal ideation across these countries. Zambia had the highest prevalence of suicidal ideation (31.9%) among all students, followed by Kenya (27.9%), Botswana (23.1%), Uganda (19.6%) and Tanzania (11.2%). Sadness was the most commonly associated correlate of suicidal ideation among students. Sadness was significantly associated with suicidal ideation in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Sadness remained significantly associated among boys and girls across the same countries. CONCLUSION: The associations between the risk factors examined and suicidal ideation have helped to increase the understanding of an ignored, but critical issue in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is an urgent need for additional research in this area in addition to greater suicide prevention efforts in sub-Saharan African countries.

Ideas are formed in a process of idea generation that includes creation, development, and communication of new ideas. Drawing has been used as a support for ideation for centuries. Today, computerized tools are commonly used for drawing. Such tools form a user interface between the human and the resulting drawing presented on the screen. The interface may come between the user and the drawing in a disruptive way also affecting the ideation process. Using controlled laboratory studies, this thesis investigates the consequences of drawing with different user interfaces in two types of tasks: creative drawing tasks (based on a standardized test of creativity) and non-creative drawing tasks (i.e. shape-tracing tasks where no new idea is created). The goal was to identify and evaluate the consequences of the several issues originating from the use of different input devices, the functionality of the graphical user interfaces, the formulation of the drawing task, and the user’s previous experience. The results showed that drawing tasks are oriented toward quality of outcomes and that higher input accuracy led to higher quality of outcomes of both creative and non-creative drawing tasks. This came with a trade-off between the quantity and quality. In ideation, less accurate input devices facilitated significantly more ideas but these were of lower quality. In non-creative tracing, higher speeds caused lower quality of outcomes. The users subjectively preferred higher accuracy, also when an inaccurate user interface offered an eraser function. However, using the eraser allowed avoiding reinterpretations of ideas and led to ideation strategies characterized by laborious drawing that negatively affected the quality and quantity of the ideas produced. For non-creative drawing, the more difficult the shapes were, the lower the tracing accuracy. In the thesis a new framework for interaction analysis is introduced that improves the theoretical and practical understanding of computerized drawing tasks and the phenomena resulting from different aspects of the user interface design of computerized drawing tools. This thesis demonstrates that the inaccuracy of computerized tools cannot only make our drawings less aesthetically pleasing but also negatively affect ideas that are created in the process.

Suicide ideation is a growing phenomenon that can be observed in stressful environments such as those of a correctional official, and it is a cause for concern. Suicide ideation is seen as the first step of suicidal behaviour and refers to thoughts, cognitions and overt intent to kill oneself. The root causes for correctional officials experiencing such a severe state of hopelessness that they feel death must be the only escape, can be ascribed to different factors. The objective of this research is to establish the relationship between psychological strengths, stress and suicide ideation of employees of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS). Three concepts of psychological strength namely locus of control, sense of coherence and affect as independent variables, were compared, with suicide ideation as a dependant variable. The relationship between suicide ideation and stress as an independent variable was also established. A cross-sectional design was used. A simple random sample (n=157) was taken from correctional officers from a management area in the Freestate Province. The Work Locus of Control Scale, Orientation to Life Questionnaire, Affectometer 2, and the Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire were administered. In addition, the Correctional Officer Stress Inventory was developed and administered. Principal component and factor extraction with Oblique rotation, Cronbach alpha and inter-item correlation coefficients, factor analysis, a discriminant analysis and a stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Results showed that positive affect and external locus of control were associated with suicide ideation. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

If the way employees die is a direct cause of their working environment, the employer has a certain responsibility to address or prevent these contributing conditions in the environment. Research reports indicate that police officers have higher suicide rates compared to the rates of the general population. Increasing suicide rates for police officers in recent years have been reported for the United States and Australia. Very limited research data for this phenomenon, especially within the South African Police Service, Limpopo Province was found. Previous research on suicide ideation focused on social and individual factors. A research project was launched to determine the relationship between certain demographic variables, coping strategies and stress factors which can be linked to suicide. Research was conducted by means of a cross-sectional survey design. A random, stratified sample (n=204) of uniformed police members was taken from police stations in the province. The Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, the Police Stress Inventory, the Coping Orientations to the Problems Experienced Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire were administered. Results of a stepwise discriminant analysis showed that the combination of race, the use of seeking emotional support as coping strategy and size of police stations can predict 75% of high suicide ideation cases and 25% of low ideation cases. It was found that 5,88% of the police officials had significant suicide ideation levels. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Suicidal behaviour is one of the most tragic events in human life causing serious emotional, spiritual, medical, social and psychological distress for individuals, family and fiends. In addition, it imposes a great economic problem for the individual, family, and society. In the South African Police Service an alarming rate of 4 per 10 000 suicides has been indicated in previous years. Due to the escalation of suicide rates it is regarded as a major public health concern. Several studies have been done regarding suicide and law enforcement agencies but few regarding suicide ideation in law enforcement agencies. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship among coping, stress and suicide ideation of police officials in the Gauteng Province within the SAPS. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A random, stratifies sample was taken from police officials in the Gauteng Province (n = 266). The Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, Police Stress Inventory, the COPE Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire were administered. The results of this study indicated that the factors that predict suicide ideation best are the following: a previous suicide attempt, passive coping styles, to be charged in terms of the disciplinary code, medical conditions and gender. The results also indicated that 9,02% of the sample showed significant levels of suicide ideation. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

国立情報学研究所で電子化したコンテンツを使用している。

abstract: Conceptual design stage plays a critical role in product development. However, few systematic methods and tools exist to support conceptual design. The long term aim of this project is to develop a tool for facilitating holistic ideation for conceptual design. This research is a continuation of past efforts in ASU Design Automation Lab. In past research, an interactive software test bed (Holistic Ideation Tool - version 1) was developed to explore logical ideation methods. Ideation states were identified and ideation strategies were developed to overcome common ideation blocks. The next version (version 2) of the holistic ideation tool added Cascading Evolutionary Morphological Charts (CEMC) framework and intuitive ideation strategies (reframing, restructuring, random connection, and forced connection). Despite these remarkable contributions, there exist shortcomings in the previous versions (version 1 and version 2) of the holistic ideation tool. First, there is a need to add new ideation methods to the holistic ideation tool. Second, the organizational framework provided by previous versions needs to be improved, and a holistic approach needs to be devised, instead of separate logical or intuitive approaches. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to make the improvements and to resolve technical issues that are involved in their implementation. Towards this objective, a new web based holistic ideation tool (version 3) has been created. The new tool adds and integrates Knowledge Bases of Mechanisms and Components Off-The-Shelf (COTS) into logical ideation methods. Additionally, an improved CEMC framework has been devised for organizing ideas efficiently. Furthermore, the usability of the tool has been improved by designing and implementing a new graphical user interface (GUI) which is more user friendly. It is hoped that these new features will lead to a platform for the designers to not only generate creative ideas but also effectively organize and store them in the conceptual design stage. By placing it on the web for public use, the Testbed has the potential to be used for research on the ideation process by effectively collecting large amounts of data from designers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2014