Masters of Art / A child friendly city (CFC) is the embodiment of the rights of the child manifested in the policies, programs, and laws of a city. A critical aspect in the creation of a CFC is the consideration of the natural environment (NE). Premised upon a child participatory perspective, this study explored the manner in which adolescents perceive and attach meaning to the NE, as there is limited research concerning this. The primary aim of the study was to investigate children’s perceptions of the NE, and within this process to elucidate the meanings that children attach to environmental issues, and how these meanings contribute toward the creation of CFC’s. This study employed the broad epistemological position of social constructionism, and the theoretical framework of the Person-environment (P-E) fit theory. Methodologically, a qualitative research design was adopted, employing focus group interviews as the method of data collection. The study was conducted in an impoverished community on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Four focus group interviews were conducted with two groups of 8 children between the ages of 13 and 14 in grade 9. Thematic Analysis was utilised to analyse and interpret the findings. The findings indicate that the participants perceive the NE through the lens of safety as natural areas in the community are characterised by crime, violence, pollution, and a haven for gangsters. The participants’ worldviews appear to be permeated with this milieu of danger which is pervasive in their community. Although the participants express the need to engage in the NE, their mobility is greatly restricted due to their own, parental, or guardians fears of threat. There is evidently incongruence between the participants’ expectations for the NE, and the reality of the unsafe nature of the NE. The participants thus fall outside the prevailing categories of the social and cultural construction of childhood, as they undergo an immense burden of adversity and suffering which breaches what childhood is supposed to signify.Along with many children in South Africa, the participants are exposed to an escalating level of crime and community violence which has a negative impact upon their sense of wellbeing,their ability to negotiate their mobility and to freely explore NE’s, and engage in childled initiatives to counteract impending safety and security concerns within their communities.It was also found that the participants consider the natural world as crucial in the creation of a CFC. Ultimately, the participants revealed that their community is not child friendly, and thereby suggest the requirement for a child and environmentally friendly city. The participants therefore proposed that environmental education (EE) be incorporated into the school curriculum to instil a greater awareness of environmental issues among their peers.

傳統認為工作壓力(job stress)與張力(strains)的關係為正相關，但French等人以工作環境資源與個人需求之差距以及工作環境要求與個人能力之差距來定義工作壓力，認為在資源愈小於需求或能力愈小於要求的情形下，個人的張力會愈小，當資源愈接近需求以及能力愈接近要求時，個人的張力會逐漸減小，而在資源大於需求或能力大於要求的情形下，個人的張力會逐漸增加、減小、或維持不變，因此個人─環境契合與張力之間的關係會有三種型態，分別為U型、線性、以及不對稱型。本研究主要的目的即是要檢驗不同的工作壓力源所造成的工作壓力與不同的張力之間的關係型態為何，並探討從契合理論來測量工作壓力的優、缺點。此外，由於傳統上研究工作壓力，多針對特殊職業團體來加以探討，為了使研究結果能做不同職業團體間的比較，因此本研究主要針對一般在職工作者來探討其工作壓力現象。 本研究採用調查法研究，以便利取樣方式收集資料，回收的有效問卷一共799份。所使用的測量工具包括：自編的工作壓力量表，身心健康量表，以及職業倦怠量表。資料分析方法包括相關法以及迴歸分析。所使用統計分析軟體則為視窗版的SPSS。 研究結果發現，一般在職工作者的主要壓力來源主包括：「重用與認同」、「工作複雜度」、「角色明確度」、「工作負荷」與「時間負荷」。而以契合理論的概念來測量上述工作壓力，的確發現工作壓力與張力之關係會因二者向度的不同而有不同的關係型態。概括來說，「重用與認同」、「工作複雜度」與身心健康、職業倦怠的關係主要為U型，「角色明確度」與身心健康的關係為U型，而與職業倦怠的關係為不對稱型，「工作負荷」與大部分身心健康指標以及職業倦怠指標的關係為不對稱型，與少部分身心健康指標以及職業倦怠指標的關係為線性，時間負荷與身心健康以及大部分職業倦怠指標的關係為不對稱型，與少部分職業倦怠指標的關係為U型。 最後研究者根據研究所得的結果，討論其意義，並說明本研究的限制，以及對未來研究方向的建議。