All governments aim to ensure better health and nutrition to children. The Rajasthan state (India) has implemented a unique frontline coordination model where Accredited Health Social Activist (ASHA) Sahyoginis are expected to support two other frontline workers (FLWs) i.e. the Anganwadi Workers from the Integrated Child Development Services and the Auxiliary Nurse Midwives from the Health department to improve child health. This thesis focuses on examining the existing coordination between the three groups of FLWs in Rajasthan by exploring FLWs' participation in child immunisation and Vitamin A supplementation (two common activities), service coverage and beneficiary's' knowledge (expected outcomes), and the challenges faced and areas that need improvement for better frontline coordination. A mixed methods design was used. Sixteen villages from two blocks (tribal and non-tribal) of Udaipur district (Rajasthan) were selected using multistage purposive sampling. The formative stage included 12 FLWs' in-depth interviews (IDIs) as well as a review of FLWs' job descriptions to understand the process and government expectations on their participation in routine childhood immunisation, polio camps, routine Vitamin A supplementation and Vitamin A campaigns. The next stage included data collection from the 16 selected villages i.e. structured questionnaire survey of FLWs (46), observations of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition Day (16), review of FLWs' immunisation and Vitamin A registers (32) and a structured questionnaire survey of registered infants' mothers (321)-all to ascertain the actual participation of FLWs in these four activities and the outcomes. IDIs with FLWs (46) and FLWs' line managers (17) were conducted to understand their experience, issues and solutions for better frontline coordination. The participation of FLWs in three of the four activities (except Polio Camps) was found to be limited. The FLWs and their line managers were also dissatisfied with coordination between FLWs. Poor outcomes also indicated unsatisfactory coordination. Overall, frontline participation and outcomes were better in tribal than non-tribal villages. A variety of factors (i.e. personal, professional, organisational, and geo-socio-cultural) appeared to affect coordination between FLWs. Appropriate recruitment, training, monitoring and supervision and rewards to the FLWs along with greater political commitment for coordinated approached and addressing intra-departmental challenges are proposed to improve frontline coordination and child health in Rajasthan.

This thesis provides a fresh investigation of a collection of Roman imperial biographies conventionally known as the 'Historia Augusta'. The thesis supports the authenticity of the texts included in this corpus, in particular the claims they make about their dates, authorship, and scope, through philological, literary, prosopographical, and historical arguments. It shows that this corpus of texts, if the main conclusions are accepted, potentially improves our understanding of the tetrarchic-Constantinian era. It also explores the wider implications for the historiography of the fourth century; the transmission and formation of multi-author corpora in antiquity and the middle ages. It also suggests that the canon of Latin imperial biographies be widened. The thesis has two parts. Part I explores the actual state of the corpus, its textual transmission, and relation to other texts. It shows that the ancient and medieval paratexts presented the corpus as a collection of imperial biographies. The paratexts are compatible with the authorial statements in the main text. It then explores the corpus' medieval transmission, and the interest medieval scholars had in such texts. This part suggests that the corpus’s current state explains well the inconsistencies found in it. Finally, it shows that words and phrases, once thought peculiar to the corpus and the holy grail of the forgery argument, are intertextual links to earlier texts. Part II explores chronological statements and historical episodes relevant to the Diocletianic-Constantinan period. It establishes the actual dates of each author, and suggests that the confusion found in these biographies is similar to that of other contemporaries. The few apostrophes are shown to be authentic, and the historical and prosopographical passages are shown to represent, and improve our understanding of, the zeitgeist and history of the period. The final conclusion weaves the various arguments together, and emphasises the authenticity and significance of the corpus' texts. It suggests separating the composition of the texts from the disinterested formation of the corpus as a whole, as part of a new hypothesis and further lines of enquiry.

The purpose for this study was to analyze conflict management according to the challenges experienced by the women principals in the Hammanskraal area in the Gauteng Province when they attempt to maintain superior- subordinate relationships in primary schools. The objectives of the study were identified as follows: 1. Literature investigation into the nature of conflict management and the feminist theoretical perspective regarding the under-representation of women in the higher managerial positions in the public institutions 2. The semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect information with regard to conflict management from a woman principal, two heads of the departments and two educators in a primary school in the Hammanskraal area, Gauteng Province. The findings supported the literature review that women principals are more effective in the area of conflict management than are the male principals. 3. The study has recommended that women should be afforded an opportunity to occupy the principalhood in the schools. / Educational Studies / M.Ed (Education Management)

This study intends to discover distinctions between two minority groups, Mormons and Orthodox Jews, compared to a mainstream Protestant group, the Methodists, in terms of newspaper behavior. It intends to probe for differences in newspaper readership frequency and uses (Berelson, 1949) between religious minority group members and majority group members. It originated with the belief that religion (type) and degree of ingroup identification in the minority communities (stronger) would lead to greater newspaper avoidance and limit newspaper use primarily for information/public affairs, rather than Berelson's (1949) other categorizations of socialization, respite, entertainment. Indeed, minority-majority distinctions did not hold. Important differences emerged between religious and more secular individuals in all communities. It was the degree of religiosity that most deeply impacted newspaper use, not denominational ties. The more individuals scored highly on a "religion-as-spiritual-quest" factor, the less they read newspapers, particularly the business newspaper. For "spiritual questors" of all denominations, the house of worship, with its myriad activities, served as a leisure-time base and, for them, recreational use of the newspaper was minimal. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

This study was undertaken to determine the extent of aggressive behaviour exhibited by secondary school learners. Many factors were considered when investigating the problem of aggressive behaviour. The problem was traced from the theorists' perspectives and factors related to the family, school and community. An extensive literature review showed that the above factors contribute to aggressive behaviour among adolescents. In order to support or reject the findings of the literature study, quantitative (questionnaire) research and qualitative research (interviews) were conducted. The results of the quantitative research concerning learners' aggressive behaviour in secondary schools were analysed and interpreted while at the same time a deeper understanding of aggressive behaviour was revealed through qualitative research. The results of the empirical research indicated that the more negative the family climate, school climate, community climate or influence of friends are, or the more negative the emotional self-concept of the adolescent is, the more aggressive the adolescent is, and vice versa. Based on these findings recommendations for the implementation of prevention programmes were made. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)

The problem statement of this research is, "What is the· basis of the intergroup relations that potentially lead to ineffective work behaviour, and how does it manifest in groups within a specific consulting organisation, in terms of the premises of the Tavistock model of group relations?" The psychodynamic approach, psychoanalytic technique, open systems theory and object relations theory were used. The unstructured interview and hermeneutic approach were used for collection of data, and analysis and interpretation. The results of the research indicate that groups, in interaction with other groups, may install defences against anxieties which could undermine the success of their work efforts .. Issues of ' . ' nonclarity of task, group boundary and identity issues, authority issues and reactions of projection seemed prevalent. Various hypotheses were developed which could be used as a basis for further research. / Industrial and Organisation Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

CAPES / O ato de jogar é uma maneira de a pessoa que joga estar no mundo e entender o que a rodeia, de experimentar realidades diferentes e identificar-se com as discussões propiciadas pelo jogo. Utilizado como gerador de significados para a sociedade e para as pessoas, os jogos podem ser compreendidos como artefatos que devem ser acessíveis a todos os membros da sociedade, particularmente os jogos digitais, por serem uma das mídias que mais apresentam desdobramentos sociais, culturais, políticos e econômicos na atualidade. Na reflexão do papel sociocultural dos jogos digitais e sua relevância para as pessoas, surge a questão das pessoas com deficiência, sobre como essas pessoas utilizam os jogos digitais, como são dadas suas representações nos jogos digitais e como elas se envolvem no processo de desenvolvimento de jogos digitais. Neste contexto, a presente pesquisa utiliza como principal método a Análise Crítica para realizar discussões sobre as etapas de conceito e elaboração dos elementos fundamentais de jogos digitais inclusivos para o gameplay, sob a perspectiva das pessoas com deficiência e à luz da teoria Interação Corporificada. Deste modo, considerar os princípios de inclusão para abordar os elementos dos jogos e articular as etapas de desenvolvimento de jogos digitais inclusivos com a Interação Corporificada, evidenciam, nesta pesquisa, como novos conceitos e perspectivas podem contribuir para subsidiar o projeto de jogos que vão na direção da inclusão das pessoas com deficiência, não somente como jogadoras, mas também como personagens e desenvolvedoras de jogos. Estas percepções propiciam novas maneiras de pensar e desenvolver jogos digitais inclusivos, de modo que na construção destes artefatos sejam considerados os desdobramentos da utilização dos jogos na sociedade, que ocorre por meio das representações, dos valores e dos significados expressados por meio dos jogos. / The act of playing is a way for the player to be in the world and to understand what is around her, to experience different realities and to identify herself with the discussions provided by the game. Used as a generator of meanings for society and for people, games can be understood as artifacts that must be accessible to all members of society, particularly digital games, considering they are one of the most comprehensive technologies nowadays, through which social, cultural, political and economic discussions are held. Reflecting on the sociocultural role of digital games and their relevance to people, arises the question about people with disabilities, how these people use digital games, how they are represented in digital games, and how they are engaged in the process of digital games development. In this sense, the present research uses Critical Analysis as the main method to conduct discussions about the stages of concept and elaboration of the fundamental elements of inclusive digital games for gameplay, from the perspective of people with disabilities in the light of Embodied Interaction theory. Thus, considering the principles of inclusion to address the elements of games and articulate the stages of development of inclusive digital games with Embodied Interaction, argue, in this research, how new concepts and perspectives can contribute to support the design of games towards the inclusion of people with disabilities, not only as players, but also as characters and game developers. These perceptions provide new ways of thinking and developing inclusive digital games, so that in the construction of these artifacts are considered the repercussion of the use of games in society, which occurs through the representations, values and meanings expressed by the games.

« L’Europe ne se fera pas en un jour, ni sans heurts.», dixit Monsieur Robert Schuman. Tel est le constat qui peut encore être fait à l’heure actuelle avec l’adoption, après trente ans d’intenses débats au niveau européen, de la Societas Europaea, introduite en droit français avec la loi du 26 juillet 2005 pour la confiance et la modernisation de l’économie, complétée par les décrets du 14 avril 2006 et du 9 novembre 2006. La même analyse peut s’appliquer à la proposition du règlement de la commission européenne relatif au statut de la société privée européenne faite le 25 juin 2008, en cours d’examen devant le Parlement Européen. Il s’agit de démontrer l’existence de normes communautaires flexibles propices au développement des normes statutaires, à l'image de celles applicables à la société privée européenne (SPE) d'origine communautaire et d'essence contractuelle. La SPE doit être analysée comme structure sociétaire, symbole de l’émancipation du droit communautaire et vecteur du principe de libre établissement des sociétés, à la fois par rapport à sa « grande cousine », la société européenne, et à travers l’étude des normes communautaires comme éléments nécessaires au bon fonctionnement des structures européennes.La question est enfin de savoir si le recours à la SPE constitue un instrument pertinent dans les opérations de restructuration intra-communautaire. Deux axes de réflexion semblent s’imposer : l’aménagement des relations contractuelles intragroupe via le modèle de la SPE et la SPE comme élément moteur dans le cadre des opérations de fusion intracommunautaire. / “Europe will not be made in a day, nor without any clashes,” according to Mr Robert Schuman. The statement proved to be true with the adoption, after thirty years of intense debates at the European level, of Societas Europaea, introduced into French law with the bill of July 26, 2005 for the confidence and modernization of the economy, supplemented by the decrees of April 14, 2006 and November 9, 2006. The same analysis can be made of the European Commission proposals for the regulations relating to the statute of the European private company made on June 25, 2008, and now under consideration before the European Parliament. The question is to show the existence of flexible Community standards favourable to the development of statutory standards, in the image of those applicable to the European Private Company of Community origin and which is contractual in essence. The European Private Company should be analysed as a member structure and a symbol of the emancipation of Community legislation as well as a vector of the principle of free establishment of companies both in relation to its “big cousin,” the European Company, and through the study of Community standards as necessary elements to the correct operation of European structures. The next step is to question if resorting to the European Private Company constitutes a relevant instrument in the operations of intracommunitarian reorganization following two main lines of investigation: the adjustment of contractual intragroup relations via the model of the European Private Company and the European Private Company as a mainspring within the framework of intracommunitarian fusion operations.

The European Parliament (EP) is the scene where certain issues concerning over 500 million ‘Europeans’ are publicly debated and where politically relevant groupings are discursively coconstructed. While the Members of the Parliament (MEPs) pursue their political agendas, intergroup boundaries are drawn, reinforced, and/or transgressed. Speakers constantly take stances on behalf of groupings in relation to some presupposed other groupings and argue what differentiates ‘Self’ from ‘Others’. This study examines patterns of language use by the MEPs as they engage in the contextually and historically situated dialogical processes of intergroup positioning and stance-taking. It further focuses on the strategic and competitive activities of grouping, grounding, and alignment in order to reveal the dynamic construction of intergroup boundaries. The study is based on a collection of Blue-card question-answer sequences from the plenary debates held at the EP in 2011, when the Sovereign Debt Crisis had been stabilized to some degree but still evoked plenty of controversy. Theoretically the study builds on Stance Theory (Du Bois, 2007), Positioning Theory (Davies & Harré, 1990), and several broadly social constructivist approaches to discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1995). The analysis shows that intergroup positioning in the EP emerges as what I call a ‘collaborative competition’ between contradictory ideologies and political agendas. The MEPs strategically manipulate their opponents' prior or projected utterances in order to set up positions for self, a grouping he or she stands for, and thereby its adversaries. All participants engage in the maintenance and negotiation of intergroup boundaries, even though the boundaries hardly ever coincide between the different speakers. They discursively fence off some imaginary territories, leaving their adversaries with vague positions. When asking Blue-card questions, the MEPs use a particular turn organization, which involves routine forms of interactional units, namely addressing, question framing and question forms, each of which is shown to contribute to stance-taking. A dynamic model of stance-taking is suggested, allowing for a fluid transformation of the stance object as well as the discursively constructed stance-takers. While Blue-card questions are meant to serve as a structured procedure for eliciting information from a speaker, the analysis demonstrates that the MEPs accomplish various divergent actions that serve intergroup positioning. The dissertation thus contributes to the understanding of the discursive games played in the EP as the MEPs strive to construct social realities that fit their political ends. / Europaparlamentet (EP) är scenen där vissa frågor rörande mer än 500 miljoner ‘européer’ officiellt debatteras och där politiskt relevanta grupperingar diskursivt konstrueras [co-constructed]. Medan parlamentsmedlemmarna (MEPs) driver sina egna politiska agendor dras gränser mellan grupperna, och dessa gränser förstärks och/eller överträds. Talare intar oavbrutet vad man skulle kunna kalla för olika ‘hållningar’ (stances) för olika grupperingar i relation till vissa förutsatta andra grupperingar, och argumenterar för vad som skiljer ‘jaget/det egna’ (Self) från ‘de andra’ (Others). Denna studie undersöker språkmönster som används av parlamentsledamöterna när de hänger sig åt kontextuellt och historiskt situerade dialogiska processer rörande positionering mellan grupper (intergroup positioning) och stance-taking. Den fokuserar vidare på de strategiska och konkurrensutsatta aktiviteterna grouping (gruppformering), grounding (ung. legitimering av en talares stance) och alignment (när man placerar sig i linje med eller tar avstånd från en annan talares åsikter) för att urskilja den dynamiska konstruktionen av gränser mellan grupper. Studien baseras på en korpus av så kallade ‘Blue-card question-answer sequences’ från plenardebatter som hölls i EP under 2011, när statsskuldkrisen hade stabiliserats något men fortfarande utgjorde grunden för många kontroverser. Teoretiskt sett bygger studien på Stance-teori (Du Bois, 2007), Positionerings-teori (Davies & Harré, 1990) och ett flertal breda socialkonstruktivistiska infallsvinklar till diskursanalys (Fairclough, 1995). Analysen visar att positioneringen mellan de olika grupperingarna i EP framstår som något jag kallar ‘kollaborativ konkurrens’ mellan motstridiga ideologier och politiska agendor. Parlamentsledamöterna manipulerar strategiskt sina motståndares tidigare eller förutsedda yttranden för att positionera sig själva, en gruppering de står för, och därigenom dess meningsmotståndare. Alla deltagare agerar för att upprätthålla och förhandla gränsdragningen mellan grupperna, trots att gränserna nästan aldrig överensstämmer mellan de olika talarna. Diskursivt styckar de av några imaginära territorier, vilket lämnar deras motståndare i vaga positioner. När de ställer Blue-card questions använder sig parlamentsledamöterna av en särskild turtagningsorganisation, vilken inbegriper rutinformer av interaktionsenheter (interactional units), tilltal (addressing), hur frågor initieras (question framing), och frågeformer (question forms), av vilka var och en visar sig bidra till stance-taking. En dynamisk modell för stance-taking föreslås, vilket möjliggör en transformation av det kontinuerligt omdefinierade stance-objektet såväl som av de diskursivt konstruerade stance-takers. Medan Blue-card questions är avsedda att fungera som en strukturerad procedur för att få fram information från en talare demonstrerar analysen att parlamentsledamöterna lyckas med olika avledande manövrer som tjänar positioneringen mellan grupper. Avhandlingen bidrar på så vis till förståelsen av det diskursiva spelet i Europaparlamentet där parlamentsledamöterna strävar efter att konstruera sociala realiteter som tjänar deras politiska mål.

LES DOUBLES MINORITES ISSUES DE L’IMMIGRATION :Approche temporelle et dynamique de la construction identitaire et des processus d’acculturationA travers les études présentées dans cette dissertation, nous avons mis en évidence l'impact du statut numérique des immigrés dans leur pays d’origine ainsi que celui de la gestion de la diversité culturelle au sein du pays d’origine, sur les processus d’acculturation des immigrés. Nos conclusions soulignent l’importance de considérer, dans les problématiques liées à l’acculturation des immigrés, l’influence du contexte social et politique précédant l’émigration. Nous rejoignons la vision que certains auteurs avancent sur les doubles minorités dans le pays d’accueil, les décrivant comme de nouveaux acteurs qui se réorganisent autour de leur identité ethnique d’origine distincte de l’identité nationale d’origine. Ces doubles minorités adoptent une attitude active de revendication mettant en avant leur situation au pays d’origine avec un discours victimaire et une remise en cause de la majorité du pays d’origine, accompagné d’un travail de lobbying dans le pays d’accueil (Ackermann, 2004 ;Atto, 2011) pour revendiquer les droits des minorités au sein du pays d’origine (Verkuyten & Yildiz, 2006). Nous relevons également la présence de stratégies acculturatifs proactives que les doubles minorités adoptent en fonction des attentes de la majorité d’accueil. Les résultats de cette dissertation sont mis en perspective avec les événements contemporains liés au Proche-Orient ;Les tensions entre Kurdes et Turques en Europe mais également entre ces deux communautés et les Chrétiens de Turquie ayant été victime d’un génocide. Plus récemment, l'émergence et les actions de « l’Etat Islamique » en Irak et en Syrie risquent de susciter des réactions de la part des différentes minorités du Moyen-Orient installés en Europe, amenant éventuellement à des tensions dans leurs relations réciproques.THE DOUBLE MINORITIES WITH A MIGRANT BACKGROUND :The temporal and the dynamics approach of identity constructionand acculturation processes Through the various studies presented in this dissertation, we highlighted the impact of both the numerical status of immigrants in their country of origin and the management of cultural diversity in their country of origin on the acculturation processes of immigrant populations. Our conclusions underline the importance of the social and political context preceding migration on the acculturation processes of immigrants. Arguing in favour of certain authors who have described immigrant populations as being new actors in their hosting countries that need to reorganise around their ethnical identity as opposed to their original national identity, these double minorities pursue an active attitude of demands, presenting their situation in their country of origin from a victim rhetoric and a questioning of the majority in their countries of origin, accompanied by an active lobbying in the hosting countries (Ackerman, 2004 ;Atto, 2011) in order to claim certain minority rights in their countries of origin (Verkuyten & Yildiz, 2006). We also focused on the presence of proactive acculturation strategies that double minorities tend to adopt in response to the expectations of the hosting majority. The results of this dissertation are put into perspective with contemporary events in the Middle East: the tensions between Kurds and Turks in Europe as well as tensions between both these communities and Christian minorities in Turkey, which have previously been victims of genocides. The recent actions of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria will result in reactions of the different minorities from the Middle East settled in Europe leading to increased tensions in their reciprocal relations. / Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished