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Text in Afrikaans / I wanted to investigate the way people experienced confessional pastoral therapy by conducting a qualitative research study. The role of the pastor were examined as well as the effect of discourses of power and ethics in pastoral counseling. I interviewed clients who were counseled by pastors of the AFM Church (Apostolic Faith Mission). The research supposes that knowledge and power discourses have a major influence in pastoral counseling which is often not accounted for. I wanted to see how clients experienced the effects of these discourses of power and ethics. I furthermore wanted to see how these power discourses could result in clients feeling subordinate to the pastor and his knowledge and the effect that these feelings might have on them. The purpose of this study was not to generalize the experiences of the participants, but rather to set a contextual background of the experiences of power in confessional pastoral counseling. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Pastorale Terapie)

Coetzee's own experience of living in apartheid South Africa provides the backdrop for novels infused with sardonic irony and rich metaphoric systems. In modes of metafiction that emphasize the destructive and violent nature of language, he optimizes his unique oeuvre to interrogate global, national and domestic power relations. This dissertation relies on psychoanalytical theories that examine microstructures of power within the individual, and in his domestic domain. Each of Coetzee's chief protagonists carries a secret related to a dysfunctional mother/son relationship. This hampers their psychosocial dynamics, their masculinity and sexuality. As they respectively strive toward an elusive new life they confront patriarchal power structures that speak on behalf of individuals, '[whose] descent into powerlessness [is] voluntary' (Coetzee 2007: 4-5). Coetzee's constructed white males perform their several identity roles in milieux that span divergent phases of colonial history. His critique points to white patriarchal hegemonic ideological discourses that bespeak the self/other dichotomy in a postcolonial world where the language of dominance supports an oppressive status quo. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

This research project arose from my journeys with Protestant Christian women who were living in sexually unhappy marriages. In South African Protestant faith communities there is the expectation that Christian marriages will experience sexual fulfilment. For many Christian women however, sexual unhappiness becomes their reality. Sexuality is cocooned in silence not only within the church, but also in many Christian marriages. This leaves many Christian women (and men) with little or no recourse to address sexually unhappy marriages. My research journey briefly explored the social construction of sexuality within the history of Christianity to see which discourses underpin current constructions of White Christian female sexuality. This participatory feminist action research journey centralised the voices of present-day contexts: Protestant Christian women, as well as clergy, were invited to share their understandings and interpretations of matrimony and sexual practices in relation to their faith. With the help of narrative therapeutic practices, some of the dominant social and religious discourses that constitute White Christian female sexuality were explored, deconstructed and challenged. This research journey aimed to penetrate this silence and to invite Christian women, who are living in sexually unhappy marriages, to share their experiences. This exploration included the faith predicaments and relational complexities, challenges and dilemmas Protestant Christian women experience when living in sexually unhappy marriages. This feminist-grounded action research explored the effects and consequences which living in sexually unhappy marriages held for the cosearchers. / Practical Theology / D.Th. (Specialisation in Pastoral Therapy)

Patriarchal discourse has lead to the marginalisation of women, children and teenagers. The aims of this research were to deconstruct patriarchal discourse; to empower teenagers to speak out for themselves; to facilitate teenagers' identifying, questioning and 'interviewing' of important problems in their lives, and to let teenagers' voices be heard by adults. Post-modern social construction discourse, post-modern and feminist theologies were used to challenge patriarchal discourse. A narrative, pastoral approach was used to assist teenagers to accomplish these aims. Using externalisation, three problems (Depression; Drugs and Alcohol; Verbal, Physical and Sexual Abuse) were exposed for what they really are, and how they influence many teenagers' lives. Alternative stories of how teenagers stand up against these problems were told. The teenagers decided to inform parents and teachers of their lived experiences in three letters. These three interesting, innovative letters are included in this dissertation. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology with specialisation in Pastoral Therapy)

Women have been abused from the beginning of time and it would appear that a patriarchal system has facilitated this abuse. Churches, in general, and Seventh-Day Adventists, in particular, have been silent on the issue of Abuse. It is my thesis that a predominantly confessional Seventh-Day Adventist's view and use of Scripture are foundational to this silence on human rights issues. Adventist eschatology is predominantly apocalyptic in nature, focussing on end-time events, thus, the present is viewed secondary. Human rights issues are marginalised with the focus on evangelism. Thus, relationships are secondary and abused women have not been accommodated within the Seventh-Day Adventist framework of worship and caring. / M.Th. (Practical Theology)

This study focusses on the missiological response of the Pamodzi Free Methodist Church to the plight of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs), specifically girl children in the Kawama Township in the Republic of Zambia. The major question to answer was “How can the cultural and biblical heritage of hospitality help the church particularly the Pamodzi Free Methodist Church to respond to the problems of OVCs, particularly girl children as victims of urban problems?” The study discovered that forces such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, child abuse, family breakdown, cultural beliefs and practices as well as a lack of care from the extended family have contributed to the vulnerability of OVCs. It recommends that the members of God’s household should have a mandate to restore the dignity and identity of OVCs in a holistic manner by linking the biblical and traditional values of hospitality as well as to develop intervention measures in order to meet the felt needs of OVCs. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

Cette recherche qualitative et exploratoire porte sur la construction identitaire de l’homme marié violent au Liban. Elle s’appuie notamment sur les discours de l’homme violent et de la femme violentée (récits de vie, interrogatoires juridiques, questionnaires) et aussi sur le discours de personnes-ressources non violentes. La construction identitaire de l’homme violent au Liban est liée au système patriarcal fortement ancré dans la culture, les institutions et la vie des Libanais. L’homme évolue en fonction de 3 prototypes :- masculin : dominant, pourvoyeur, protecteur, agressif- féminin : soumise, femme au foyer, disponible, douce- du couple : verrouillage des autres prototypes dans une complémentarité sexisteLa violence masculine traduit la place de l’homme dans le couple (violences symboliques et violences spontanées), elle traduit aussi sa volonté de conserver l’ordre patriarcal dans la famille car toute évolution des prototypes notamment celui de la femme est sentie par l’homme comme une menace contre sa masculinité (violences interactionnelles). La violence est accentuée car le Liban évolue sous l’empire de stress, ce qui met les rôles patriarcaux en question en permanence. La trajectoire identitaire de l’homme violent libanais montre qu’il a un père autoritaire et sévère, parfois faible. Sa mère pourrait être envahissante, absente ou ambivalente. Du point de vue couple l’homme violent cherche le couple fusionnel car il traduit parfaitement la complémentarité patriarcale sexiste. L’ordre social patriarcal libanais est en perpétuelle reproduction engendrant des hommes sexistes prêts à devenir violents. La femme est encerclée par la violence même, sa honte d’être femme battue et/ou femme divorcée, mais aussi à cause du tiers d’idéologie sexiste : parents, amis, société, institutions concernées. La lutte contre la violence conjugale au Liban doit être totale : contre la violence, les inégalités de genre et la culture patriarcale. / This qualitative and exploratory research is about the construction of the identity of the violent married man in Lebanon. It is based on different sources, the violent man, the battered woman discourse (biography, court records, and questionnaires) and the discourse of non-violent resource-person. The construction of the identity of the violent man in Lebanon is related to the patriarchal system which is strongly anchored in the culture, institution and life of the Lebanese. In this environment man evolves into three prototypes:- The masculine: dominant, protector, provider, aggressive.- The feminine: submissive, housewife, available, soft.- The couple: the clamping of the two other prototypes in one complementary sexist relationship.The masculine violence can reflect the man’s place in the couple (symbolic violence, spontaneous violence), and can also show the willingness to conserve the patriarchal order in the family because every evolution of prototypes especially the women’s role is felt by man as a threat against his masculinity (interaction violence). Violence is accentuated because Lebanon is a society under stress, which permanently distorts the masculine image. The identity trajectory of the Lebanese violent man shows that he has an authoritarian and severe father figure, or a feeble one. His mother can be overbearing, absent or ambivalent. Concerning the couple, the violent man searches for the fusional couple because it reflects perfectly the sexist patriarchal complementarity. The Lebanese social patriarchal order is in perpetual reproduction generating sexist man ready to become violent. The woman is surrounded by violence, and shame feeling of being a battered woman and/or divorced woman, and because of the others that are sexist: parents, friends, society institutions and concerned responsible. The struggle against violence can only be total: it must be against violence, gender inequality and against patriarchal society.

This thesis shows how misogynous and stereotypical images of women, which historically have been used to transform them into witches and monsters, are now reused in the construction of the term “batikhäxa” (“tie-dye witch”). Feminist and discourse theory form the framework of this study which includes the analysis of three opinion pieces, or political pamphlets, that were published between 2010 – 2018: "Batikhäxorna och makten" by the pseudonym Julia Caesar, "Refugee 'Children" & The Women Who Sexually Exploit Them" by the pseudonym Angry Foreigner and "De ansvariga för Sveriges kaos behöver en intervention för att ställas till svars " by Katerina Janouch. I use critical discourse analysis to study how discursive strategies are applied in these political pamphlets to delegitimate women, making them the scapegoats of society by use of the concept of the tie-dye witch. My thesis argues that the use of the tie-dye witch discourse reproduces patriarchal power relations by denying women the right to have and express their opinions, decide over their own bodies and exercise power in society. The tie-dye witch can therefore also be understood as an anti-feminist counterimage to the feminist witch who was established as a female role model in the 1960s. The study also uncovers the psychological function of the tie-dye witch as a female super monster who demarks the borders of nation, culture, religion, body and gender. In the studied texts, the tie-dye witch is constructed to separate "us" from "the others", and in doing so she also acts as a unifying figure in and of anti-feminist, islamophobic, xenophobic, nationalist and apocalyptic discourses.