The general purpose of this study was to examine transformations of human agency in natural contexts. Existing theoretical formulations have primarily been confined to laboratory investigations. Moreover, the principles generated by such theories have not been validated beyond the laboratory setting. With this purpose in mind, there were two immediate aims of the study. The first aim was to contribute to counselling theory by assessing five prominent theories of human agency and providing a basis from which to potentially establish more adequate theoretical formulations. The second aim was to contribute to counselling practice by providing concrete information and a more informed basis through which to enhance agency in clients. A multiple case study design integrating intensive interviewing and Q-methodology was utilized for the study. Ten individuals, five women and five men, ranging in age from 28 to 64, were identified through a network of contacts for participation in the study. Based upon convergence of qualitative evidence from interviews and quantitative evidence from Q-sorts, rich, detailed narrative accounts of transformation were constructed for each individual. Each account was validated by the individual for whom each was written and by an independent reviewer. Through a comparative analysis of the ten diverse accounts of transformation, extensive commonality was identified. Twenty-two common themes were extracted from the accounts that portrayed significant features of the transformation. Based on these themes, an abstract story of the common pattern revealed in the transformation was plotted. Individual aspects of each of the theories of agency were validated as well as qualified in some important ways. In addition, the results extended these theories in three main ways. First, the results indicated that transformations of human agency were complex wholes that involved a configuration of features rather than any one or two isolated features. Second, the findings indicated that context played a critical role in transformations of agency. And third, the results emphasized the important role of powerful emotions in the process of transformation. The results of this study also generated a beginning holistic portrait of transformation which has implications for counsellors in terms of understanding and facilitating transformations of agency in clients. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

A second generation South Asian can be faced with contrasting and conflicting cultures which can impact the formation of a healthy ethnic identity. The present study investigated what facilitated and hindered a South Asian's adolescent experience of becoming bicultural. Flanagan's (1954) Critical Incident Technique was used in interviewing 8 adult participants, including 5 females and 3 males, aged 20 to 26 years of age. The results identified 88 critical incidents, forming 10 helping categories and 4 hindering categories. The 10 Helping categories were: (1) Cross Cultural Friendships, (2) Speaking both Punjabi and English, (3) Personal Attributes, (4) Shared Experiences with Peers in the 'Same Boat', (5) Family Support and Influence, (6) Involvement in Recreational, Cultural and Religious Community Activities, (7) Visiting India, (8) High School Experience, (9) University Education and (10) Acceptance of Parent's and / or Grandparent's Views. The Hindering Categories were: (1) Parental and / or Familial Expectations, (2) Media Influence / Societal Expectations, (3) Personal Conflict of Cultural Values and (4) Experiencing Racism. The categories were found to be reliable and valid through procedures such as exhaustiveness, independent raters, co-researcher's cross checking, participation rate and theoretical agreement. The resulting categories provide a list of comprehensive factors that can facilitate and hinder an individual's process towards developing a bicultural identity. The findings are discussed in relation to implications for counselling theory and practice, and future research. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

M.A. / The aim of this research is to ascertain the unique character of late-adolescence in order to strengthen the counselling and ministry of late-adolescents. The first aim was to ascertain the particular problems of identity development and psychosocial adjustment of late-adolescents. The research concentrates on different aspects of development such as cognition, sexuality, self-actualisation and commitments. In order to comprehend the complexity of late-adolescents, the following aspects should be taken into account: identity, body-image, intimacy, careerchoice, personal values and philosophy of life. A literature study was done to draw a comparison between the developmental theory of Erik H Erikson and the classical and more contemporary views on these concepts. Erikson described eight life stages in human development. The research focuses on the first six stages which culminates in achievement of intimacy and identity. The research showed that six concepts, trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity and intimacy, are intertwined in the development of a healthy personality. This information need to be used in the counselling and ministry process. The second aim was to measure the psychological adjustment of late-adolescents by means of two questionaires: the EPSI-scale. (Eriksonian Psychological Stage Inventory) and the Erikson-scale. The questionaires were structured to measure the six major concepts of Erikon's theory. The lack of correlation between the EPSI and Eriksonian scales opens the door to research on a questionaire which can measure the Eriksonian concepts of psychosocial development. The following methods were used in the processing of the results of the questionaires: Student T-test for small groups and the Spearman correlational coefficient. The variables that were tested were sex, age and ethnicity. There were no statistical significant differences among the scores of the three ethnical groups. This leads to the conclusion that Erikson's theory is applicable to the South African adolescent population. Identity and psychosocial adjustment are major concepts in the development of lateadolescents and could be regarded as a relevant field of study.

The traditional academic ranks for regular faculty in Mainland China universities commonly include assistant lecturer, lecturer, associate professor, and professor, with no clear differentiation between academic and teaching tracks. Recent education reform in Mainland China with the aspiration of world-class, high-ranking universities, however, has brought about unprecedented challenges to academics at the rank of lecturer; they are suffering from contract requirements that rise as the requirements for university ranking increase. In an attempt to reach the bar set by Western research universities, the vast majority of Chinese universities have embraced higher education reform that emphasizes a "publish or perish" ideology. This thesis employs a multiple case study, with a focus on four English lecturers' teaching and research engagement. The four cases included English Language Teaching (ELT) teachers who had received a doctoral degree and were trained to do research, as well as ELT teachers who were initially recruited to teach language courses but were later required to transform their professional identities to be teacher-scholars. ELT teachers have reportedly exhibited a weak research capacity compared with university teachers in other subject areas, making this study on a professional group of English lecturers meaningful. It is therefore the aim of this study to systematically explore English lecturers' identity construction pertinent to teaching and research engagements in the contested and evolving higher education reform in Mainland China. Drawing upon communities of practice, discourse theory, and activity theory, this study brings new knowledge to identity-in-practice, identity-in-discourse, and identity-in-activity. Data were triangulated through narrative frames, interviews, field observations, post-observation informal talks, and documents. Data analyses included "bottom-up" and "top-down" approaches; the former refers to analytic induction where meaning is grounded in data, whereas the latter helped the researcher arrive at a holistic understanding of participants' professional identities by referring to theoretical concepts. The findings revealed an array of identity options (e.g., "gardener", "innovator", "researcher", "scholar", "poorly paid laborer", "temporary worker", "traitor", "blind follower", "game loser", "robot", "teaching machine", "sojourner", and "publishing machine"). The factors that shaped identity construction included shifting value of being an English teacher-researcher under higher education reform, intensified "publish-or-perish" ideology, and changing institutional and societal circumstances. This thesis proposes a tripartite conceptual framework of identity-in-practice, identity-in-discourse, and identity-in-activity to contextualize the practical and discursive identity construction of English lecturers. The tripartite framework of teacher identity based on these findings extends the notion of professional development upon which English lecturers should draw to empower themselves. By reflecting on contextual and personal resources relevant to their professional development, English lecturers are expected to utilize societal resources from the broader academic community to transcend institutional constraints to their personal and professional identity construction. This study concludes with implications for educators and administrators to provide responsive support for English lecturers' professional development. Further research is needed to integrate the tripartite framework of practice, discourse, and activity to examine the complexity of teacher identity construction.

The purpose of this study was to determine if two elements of self-conception, environment and biology, influenced trait and dyadic measures of empathy.

Bibliography: pages 116-117. / The three television channels provided by the South African Broadcasting Corporation target different demographic sectors of the South African population. A survey was conducted quantifying advertisements shown on SABC 1, which caters for a mainly black audience, and on SABC3, which caters for a mainly white audience. The semiotic codes employed to engage the viewers were recorded, tabulated and measured. The differences between the codes used on each channel were compared and tested for statistical significance. Significant differences were observed in the type of speech used by the advertisements, the race of the characters, the types of products advertised, the lifestyles portrayed and the type of rhetoric used. Specific examples were subjected to textual analysis to gauge where the approaches to the audiences differed or converged. A number of strategies were observed, reflecting the advertisers' perceptions of the audiences' relationships with the economic and political establishments. Corporate advertisements often represent the diversity of South African society, establishing a corporate identity as a unifying feature. Advertisements for financial services either exploit white anxieties, or black optimism, encouraging investment or credit purchases respectively. A stereotype representing South African isolation and backwardness is often presented as a negative identity, implying a progressive alternative to which the product is integral. Allegories of societal transformation also feature, with varying moods of anxiety or excitement depending on the audience.

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2007. / This study is on the impact of copyright law on the provision of information by libraries with special reference to computerized databases. For the purposes of this study, four hypotheses were set, being: the appropriateness of copyright law; the restriction on access to information; author's remuneration for his work; and the interpretation of the law of copyright. A literature review was done on the origin and development of copyright, from the ancient cultures through the Middle Ages and the invention of the printing period to the enactment of the first copyright law in history (the Statute of Anne) which is the fundamental basis of the modern copyright as a legal protection for an author, artist or composer that restricts any form of reproduction. In general, copyright law grants the autln,r an exclusive right to his works and also grants the pucil J the right to use intellectual works within th^ limits of the doctrine of 'fair use* that would not cripple the economic conditions of the author. In chapter three, it is indicated that recent developments in computer technology, telecommunications technology and reprography have made it possible for information to be easily and cheaply copied and transmitted over distances (transborder data flow) for the use of many users. Such indiscriminate access withholds from the copyright holder legitimate royalties for his work and the protection by legal copyright. To restrict such access on the other hand, inhibits the use of the work which is also contrary to the interests of the author and to the intent of copyright law. Libraries are a primary source of disseminated information and as such are required to observe the legal conventions of the country. With the recent developments of a wide range of technological advancements in information transfer, and an increased demand for information sharing, it is becoming increasingly difficult and in some cases impossible for libraries to fully uphold and enforce the provisions of the copyright law. Nowadays, intellectual property has become a tradeable commodity and the recent problem is one of economic threat brought about by changing technology. Librarians depend upon the originality and products of authors and publishers in the provision of information services to users and must therefore observe the copyright law to give incentive to those with the ability to write. The results of this study confirm the hypotheses that copyright law is not appropriate in the reproduction of all forms of copyrighted material from computerized databases; that copyright law restricts the free access to information; that authors have the right to expect remuneration for their works; and that the interpretation of copyright law is a problem and therefore confusing to libraries.

It is through the announcement and placement of various identities that one is able to enter into various types of social relations. Identity is a label used to describe a person in a particular situation as being a kind of social object. A person announces his identity and others place him as having this identity on the basis of his appearance. Structural relations have been defined as relations where one may enter by using a title, while interpersonal relations are entered by using a name or nickname. Structural identities place people in categories, while separating them from others in different categories. Names are used to identify an individual and thus, distinguish him from all other individuals. It has been the purpose of this thesis to gain an understanding of an empirical world (gay drinking places) through the application of the theoretical concept of identity as discussed by those in the interactionist perspective. The method of participant observation was used to gather the data for this investigation. The role of "participant-as- observer" was assumed. The observations were conducted in male gay drinking places in an urban area over a period of three months. Both informal and formal interviews were conducted with informants. It was found that in the gay drinking places there are different structural identities which may be announced and placed in order to enter into structural relations. In most situations these structural identities are announced and placed on the basis of appearance. Knowledge of these structural identities allows the exploration of the relations between those presenting a specific structural identity with those presenting the same structural identity and with those presenting different structural identities. While the announcement and placement of identities facilitates interaction, in some cases it may preclude interaction. Additionally, It is suggested that the various gay bars and taverns acquire imputed identities. The subject of identity transformation in the gay drinking places was also investigated. When a person new to the gay subculture is aspiring to the identity of gay regular, he must learn how to announce this identity. Gay drinking places serve as places where the individual may announce his intention of becoming a gay regular and where he may meet others who have the identity to which he is aspiring. In gay drinking places he enters into a coaching relationship with other gay regulars who serve as models for him, teach him how to appear, and define the various situations in which he finds himself. Names and nicknames are used to enter into interpersonal relations with others in the gay drinking places. In the gay drinking places, it was found that while a person's structural identity indicates that the person can be shown to be a specific type of person, it is a person's name or nickname which identifies him as an individual. In interaction, a name brings to mind various situationally relevant elements of biographical information. The biographical information which may be brought to mind is in many cases limited to information accumulated about the person's activities in the gay drinking places because last names are rarely used.

The Divine Coming of the Light is a memoir-in-essays that covers an experience, from 2007 to 2010, when I lived in Kosuge Village (population 900), nestled in the mountains of central Japan. I was the only foreigner there. My memoir uses these three years as a frame to investigate how landscape affects identity. The book profiles who I was before Japan (an evangelical and then wilderness guide), why I became obsessed with mountains, and the fall-out from mountain obsession to a humanistic outlook. The path my narrator takes is one of a mountain hike. I was born in tabletop-flat West Texas to conservative, Christian parents in the second most Republican county by votes in America. At 19, I made my first backpacking trip to the San Juan Mountains of western Colorado and was awed by their outer-planetary-like massiveness. However, two friends and I became lost in the wilderness for three days without cell phones. During this time, an obsession possessed me as we found our way back through the peaks to safety, a realization that I could die out there, yes, but amid previously unknown splendor. I developed an addiction to mountains that weakened my religious faith. Like the Romantic poets before me, God transferred from the sky to the immense landscape. I jettisoned my beliefs and became an outdoor wilderness instructor. On every peak I traveled up, I hoped to recreate that first conversion experience when I was lost in the woods. After college, while teaching English in Kosuge Village, I learned about the mountain-worshipping religion Shugendo: a mixture of Buddhism, Shintoism, and Shamanism. I climbed dozens of peaks, spending several days backpacking. However, while in Japan, I was nearly fatally injured on a solo, month-long hike. I saw the accident as a warning and turned my attention to studying writing and literature. When I came to Japan, I went up mountains, but as I left, I came down. The book profiles my experiences with mountains and my double disillusionment, leveling off with a humanistic outlook, leaving the narrator less a wanderer but more willing to empathize with other people.

This qualitative case study aimed to explore how 21 nascent creative entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry, specifically actors, directors, producers, and screenwriters who participated in the same workforce development program in the United States, constructed their identities via competencies and adult learning methods. It also explored the external factors that supported or impeded them. The case study is based on the following assumptions: 1. Nascent creative entrepreneurs face unique challenges in forming their creative entrepreneurial identity. 2. Thematic and need-based commonalities will emerge from interviews with participants. 3. Current higher education and training and development programs fail to provide nascent creative entrepreneurs with the resources, information, and support required to successfully form their creative entrepreneurial identities to navigate an increasingly dynamic and competitive industry. 4. Nascent creative entrepreneurs are interested and willing to participate in this study. 5. Deepening our understanding of identity construction in nascent creative entrepreneurs could benefit the field of adult learning, creative entrepreneurs, the creative economy, and society as a whole. The primary sources of data were semi-structured in-depth interviews, a focus group, and document analysis. The study was conducted online. Identity Theory and Adult Learning Theory, specifically Informal Learning and Self-Directed Learning, provided the overriding construct for the analysis, interpretation, and synthesis of the research findings. Two major findings emerged from the study: 1) Nascent creative entrepreneurs construct their identities by being a collaborator.2) Nascent creative entrepreneurs construct their identities via Informal Learning. The cohort associated with participants’ workforce development program was the most mentioned supportive external factor, while business elements associated with being a creative entrepreneur emerged as an external impeding factor.