This thesis, motivated by the paucity of previous research in this subject area, describes an attempt to better understand the extent of poverty in rural Scotland and how the factors associated with that poverty may differ in the rest of the country. By identifying factors showing association uniquely with rural as opposed to urban poverty so policy decisions on targeted rural poverty alleviation could be made. Few such factors appear to have been tested formally for their association with poverty in rural Scotland. Using data from British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) datasets I create an income-based measure to compare levels of poverty across the rurality domain for the general population and several sub-populations. I also test the levels of association that factors found in the literature exhibit with households being in poverty, entering poverty and exiting poverty in both rural and non-rural Scotland. In so doing I highlight some of the data limitations within BHPS, particularly in the number of households in the remote and rural categories of the Scottish Government rural classification system. Under the current Scottish Government rural classification system it is evident that poverty in rural Scotland is lower than in the rest of the country. However, in-work poverty and fuel poverty are significantly higher in rural Scotland, where fluctuations in household fuel prices also appear to have a much quicker impact on poverty levels and levels of workless households than in the rest of the country. This thesis identifies evidence that the current definition of rural Scotland excludes parts of Scotland typically described as rural, with the result that the high levels of poverty in these areas goes unreported in most rural poverty analysis. Areas for further research are suggested, as is an alternative regional typology that may better reflect differences in poverty related factors across Scotland.

One of the greatest social injustices is that people who are marginalized experience more illnesses, disability, and shorter lives than those who are more affluent (Benzeval, Judge, and Whitehead, 1995). In this dissertation I critique the notion that health is affected by poverty through primarily material factors. In fact, poor women are systematically excluded from resources and opportunities to pursue their health. This feminist action research project addressed how poverty and exclusion influenced poor women's health, examined how a group of women negotiated their experiences of poverty and health, and developed action strategies to address their shared concerns. For 1 V2 years I worked with a group of 30 poor women and gathered qualitative data from 15 meetings, 32 interviews, and 30 sets of fieldnotes. The women lived in material deprivation and could not afford the most basic living necessities. They felt stereotyped, excluded, and invisible in their every day lives. The stereotype of the "welfare recipient" fueled institutional stigmatization and surveillance. Welfare, health care, and community recreation workers were threatening, withheld important information, and limited the women's access to services through chscriminatory practices and policies. The women had limited access to health-promoting resources, and their interactions with authorities were shaming which negatively influenced their psychosocial health through stress, depression, low self-esteem, and anger. Services that were meant to help them labelled them as poor and hurniliated them. The women's shame, material scarcity, and limited access to resources engendered feelings of lack of control and hopelessness and influenced their health. The women's varied discourses of poverty and health reflected attempts at finding legitimacy in a society that systematically excluded and de-legitimized them. Through their conversations and our feminist action research work together, they uncovered legitimate identities within experiences of poverty and ill-health and advocated action and social change. They cited a "livable" income, accessible health-promoting resources, and redressing stigmatizing practices and policies as changes required to improve their health. These findings confirmed that the social determinants of health must be reframed to better understand the effects of exclusion on poor women's health and that inclusion, respect, and dignity are fundamental conditions for promoting health. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

Published Article / This article reports the findings and results of the Masters study on the causes of poor performance of learners in English in primary schools in Leribe district. A literature study was conducted to explore and to identify the causes of poor performance of learners in English in the literature. The findings of the study were collected by means of in-depth individual interviews the manifestation of the causes of poor performance of learners in English was investigated from the participants. Based on interpretive theory employing qualitative research approach, data collected and analysed from the individual interviews were analysed as emerging and themes. The findings of the study repudiate the argument that existence of the Education policy inevitably leads to sound improvement of learners in English in primary schools and consequently quality education improved.

Petitions of different kinds are emerging as an increasingly used source for studies of early modern Sweden and beyond. Supplications offer historians great opportunities to examine claims coming from people of various backgrounds, and the larger complex of contemporary ideas these arguments were built on. In these documents, petitioners often bring up the issue of poverty. The purpose of the thesis has been to elucidate this language of poverty and the ideas and values behind its invocation, through studying how people described and used it in their communication with the County Administration of Uppsala between 1730 and 1734. The study has shown that statements of poverty were deployed by a large variety of people, but women were more prone to speak about it than men, especially in echelons above the peasantry. Poverty was used in several ways: to denote a subordinate relation in the social hierarchy, as an enhancer of plight or as something which was not deserved as the petitioners had fulfilled the duties expected of them. By calling themselves poor or emphasizing their blameless destitution, supplicants could ask for the County governor’s protection, try to establish themselves as deserving of help or invoke notions of Christian compassion. Behind the statements of poverty lay ideas of hierarchy and reciprocity set out in the Lutheran Table of Duties, which provided a base for the supplicants’ claims for help.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study reviews the literature regarding psychodynamic therapy with low-income women. Low-income women are at psychological risk for developing emotional distress as a result of their deprived living circumstances. They have, however, received little attention from psychological research and practice. This literature review explores what psychological interventions are available for low-income women. It is found that psychodynamic therapy is largely unavailable to low-income women for a variety of reasons, which range from classism, sexism and ignorance to the cogent feminist and cross cultural critiques. It is argued that psychodynamic therapy should be more available to low-income women as it provides a sophisticated understanding of how oppressive social ideologies are internalized in the unconscious, thus facilitating, through therapy, a process of deconstruction and political subversion. Suggestions are also offered as to how to make psychodynamic therapy more accessible to low-income women. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie bied 'n oorsig van die beskikbare literatuur aangaande psigodinamiese terapie vir laer inkomste vrouens. Die groep is tot 'n meerdere mate blootgestel aan die ontwikkeling van emosionele stress trauma weens hul ontneemde lewensomstandighede. Laer inkomste vrouens het tot hede min aandag geniet met betrekking tot psigologiese navorsing en praktyk. Hierdie literatuur oorsig fokus op gepaste psigologiese ingryping wat beskikbaar is vir die spesifieke groep. Die ontoeganklikheid van psigodinamiese terapie beskikbaar, vir laer inkomste vrouens, kan toegeskryf word aan 'n verskeidenheid faktore: die strek van klassisme, seksisme en onkunde tot oortuigende feministiese en kruis kulturele beoordeling en debat. Hierdie verhandeling stel voor dat psigodinamiese terapie meer beskikbar moet wees tot laer inkomste vrouens, want dit stel 'n gesofisikeerde begrip, ten doel van hoe onderdrukkende sosiale ideologie geinternaliseer word in die onderbewussyn en die teenwerking daarvan. Die geskrif beredeneer hoe terapie kan fasiliteer in die proses van de-konstruksie en politieke subversie. Dit word ook voorgestel hoe om psigodinamiese terapie toeganklik to maak vir laer inkomste vrouens.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The debate as to whether there is a trade–off between financial sustainability and outreach remains inconclusive among many researchers, therefore this research was conducted to bridge this knowledge gap. The study was conducted in Harare using longitudinal research design and analysed using panel data regression model. The study was conducted for the period of 3 years from 2011 to 2013 on 60 sampled MFIs in Harare. The findings were that MFIs in Harare are very sustainable but their outreach is low as shown by large loan sizes offered to clients. It was further revealed that staff cost per dollar and proportion of female clients are the only variables that affect sustainability of MFIs in Harare. Finally the research revealed that sustainability goals be achieved simultaneously and therefore are compatible. The key contributions to knowledge revealed by the study are as follows: there is a positive relationship between sustainability and outreach. Two variables affect sustainability on MFIs in Harare namely staff cost per dollar and proportion of female clients. The study recommends that Microfinance institutions in Harare should focus on financial sustainability in order to reduce their subsidy dependence, to ensure survival and growth in the future. To the policy makers the study recommends that sustainability does not compromise the outreach to the poor.

The aim of the study was to analyse the survival strategies of the poor households in Boitumelo township. The research methodology used herein was two fold: Firstly, a literature research based on economic journals, previous research projects, books and internet was done in order to develop a better understanding of poverty. Secondly, an empirical research survey using questionnaires was undertaken. Over the years there have been competing theories which provide an understanding of poverty. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses. Poverty captures a wide range of meanings, depending on who is defining it. Although various technical solutions have been suggested for differentiating the poor and non-poor using the monetary approach, there is no theory of poverty that clearly differentiate the poor from the non-poor. The survey results showed that 41% of all households in Boitumelo are poor and on average have an income shortage of 63% to the poverty line. Poverty within the area has a gender bias as 76% of the poor are females. The large number of households below the poverty line provided ample opportunity for further analysis to find out about the activities that they use to sustain themselves. Being unemployed in government or manufacturing industries, the urban poor are compelled to create some sort of jobs for themselves. Street vending, odd jobs, gambling, seeking credit on exploitative terms, income from state welfare, begging for survival are just a few of the activities urban poor adopt to survive / Thesis (MCom (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Today for the first time in history, over 1.15 billion people live in urban slums. Of these, 581 million live in Asia, 120 million in Latin America, and 199 million in sub-Saharan Africa (UN-HABITAT 2010). Over 90% of the urban slum dwellers live in the cities of low income countries under severe deprivation of urban services such as improved drinking water, adequate sanitation and shelter (UNHABITAT 2006a), (UN-HABITAT 2010), (Martínez, Mboup et al. 2008), (Cross, Morel 2005) and (Brocklehurst, Malhotra et al. 2005). This deprivation of the poor has been associated with bias meted against them (the poor) by the public and private sectors. Unless this bias and subsequent deprivations are dealt with, new constraints will always emerge to perpetuate the deprivations (Solo, Perez et al. 1993,). However, can certain approaches by a specific kind of organisations address the bias? This research was encouraged by the success of faith based organizations (FBOs) in treating the poor communities well and their success in delivering social services to the poor in America (White House. 2001), (Sherman 2003) and (Wuthnow, Hackett et al. 2004). The role played by human values in influencing day to day behaviour was encouraging too (Schwartz 1992), (Schwartz 2007), (Williams Jr. 1979), (Schwartz, Melech et al. 2001), and (Rokeach 1973). Reviewed literature show that the people who identify with self-transcendence values are predisposed to treat other people well and also work towards the welfare of other people (Schwartz 1992), (Schwartz 1994), and (Schwartz, Melech et al. 2001). The knowledge gap about the role that faith based organizations and human values could play towards addressing the deprivations of the urban poor in a low income country context led to the research question: ―how could faith based organizations possibly contribute towards the delivery of urban services to the poor in a low-income country context‖. To answer the research question, a case study strategy was adopted and data gathered from three FBOs in Nairobi (Kenya), using 29 in-depth interviews, 8 observations and 41 case study documents. The case studies were selected after a preliminary survey involving 256 telephone interviews and 135 subsequent self-administered mail questionnaires to probable organizations. Qualitative data from the selected case studies was analysed using the thematic analysis approach to understand the FBOs‘ involvement with urban services to the poor. Data from the Portraits Value Questionnaire (58 questionnaires) was also analysed to determine the values orientation of the FBOs‘ personnel. This inquiry found that the FBOs‘ staff oriented with self-transcendence values and also treated the poor well. The FBOs were also involved with urban services for the poor through infrastructural programmes (or projects) and the empowerment of the poor. As a result, the poor were enabled both to access and also afford the urban services, lobby, advocate and demand for urban services. These findings have illuminated the possibility of Public-Faith Partnerships in the delivery of urban services for the poor and the need for personal values to be central in staff recruitment towards eliminating bias against the poor and the subsequent deprivations.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Whilst paid employment has generally been considered as the predominant means of avoiding poor living standards, the past two decades has seen a rise in the complex phenomenon of employed poverty worldwide (Eardley, 1998; Nolan and Marx, 1999; Nolan et al., 2010; Cheung and Chou, 2015). Over time, low-wage employment has increased in both number and severity, resulting in or contributing significantly to household poverty (Nolan and Marx, 1999). While individuals are employed in paid work, salaries are too low for households to maintain “a reasonable standard of living” (Cheung and Chou, 2015 p. 318). Internationally, employed poverty has been a serious and well-researched problem in the United States of America (USA or US). More than 11% of the USA “population resided in poor households with at least one employed person” (Brady et al., 2010 p. 560). In Hong Kong, approximately 53.5% of the population living in poverty were working poor in 2012 (Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2013). Closer to home, Sub- Saharan Africa’s working poor rate for 2016 was estimated at 33.1% for workers earning less than US $1.90 per day and 30% for those earning between US $1.90 and $3.10 per day (International Labour Organisation, 2016).

This study looked at the way poor-performing public secondary schools in Gauteng Province understand school accountability; their current internal accountability instruments; the way professional development is conducted; and their engagement with the Integrated Quality Management System, the external school accountability system. The intention of the study was to identify possible instruments to mobilise bureaucratic and professional accountability in poor-performing secondary schools. The study was a case study of three poor-performing secondary schools and relied on teachers and principals at these schools to learn their understanding and reactions to the notion of accountability. The study revealed that such schools use bureaucratic instruments (such as attendance registers) to realise accountability and to create structure and routine in their schools. However, where leadership is weak, even these bureaucratic tools such as attendance registers are ineffective. These schools do not take action against non-conformance by teachers and principals. In the schools investigated, accountability was seen as ‘doing your work as you were trained to do during your pre-service training and reporting on learner performance’. The study revealed that, to move towards greater professional accountability in the school sector, a long-term approach is needed that is underscored by ongoing professional development complemented with pressure or performance management. Equally important is the need to build collective power through improving knowledge and skills and motivation for improvement amongst both teachers and school managers.