The spatial mobility of the aged has, until recently, been a neglected area of study. Studies by gerontologists focused on housing, health and social services that influenced the quality of life of elderly and ignored spatial mobility. Mobility is an important variable for the aged, to take advantage of the wide variety of shopping, social, cultural and recreational services provided within residential environments. Moreover, for any interaction to take place outside the home, the aged must utilize public transport, motor vehicles or walk. Apartheid policies with its associated racial discrimination had a major impact on the lives of the aged, especially in black communities. Presently, there is a lack of understanding of the problems of the aged in disadvantaged communities because previous research was conducted mainly in white communities. In the light of the above, the aim of this study was to determine the spatial mobility patterns of the aged in Chatsworth, Durban, and to identify difficulties encountered when engaging in day to day activities. It is based on the rationale that mobility is a good measure for assessing the quality of life of the aged and determines the mobility patterns of the elderly in terms of time, cost and distance of travel. This study also identifies factors impeding mobility and makes recommendations to improve the spatial mobility of the aged. The study revealed that the aged in Chatsworth are both mobile and active. It was evident, however, that the aged experienced mobility problems that limited their access to essential services and facilities, because of inefficient transport, low income, lack of facilities and disabilities associated with the ageing process. The underlying feeling of the majority of the respondents was that the transport service in the area should be improved and the state pensions that they received should be increased in order to enhance their mobility and quality of life. Planners and policy makers must consider the concerns of the aged and respond to their needs so that they can continue to have active and independent lives in the community. The planning process can assist in breaking down barriers that hinder the mobility of the aged, and in so doing give the elderly improved opportunities to enjoy the same quality of life as the rest of society. Assistance with mobility and access to services and facilities will not only increase the range of opportunities for the elderly, but in the long term, reduce the amount of institutional care spent on them. Future generations of elderly people will have higher aspirations, expectations, be better educated and prepared for retirement. Present services and facilities are inadequate to cater for the new generation of elderly people and must be upgraded to cope with, and prevent, similar problems recurring in the future. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1995.

This study is based on fieldwork carried out between October 1995 and December 1996 and has two dimensions. The first dimension reflects the study of social relationships between children with and without disabilities in the regular school setting. The second dimension reflects the process involved when moving from quantitative to qualitative research methodology. This research is presented as three case studies. The first is a behaviourist case study that utilised a peer-training intervention to improve social interactions and social relationships between a six year old boy labelled 'severely disabled' and his regular classroom peers. An increase in the number and length of interactions raised some important questions about the context of social relationships. Two qualitative observational case studies then followed, with the focus on social relationships, especially the structures and people that shape and influence them in the school setting. In the first of the qualitative case studies, the first and over-riding theme was the influence of the school structure. The second theme was the opportunities to interact available to the children in the classroom and the playground. The characteristics of the social interactions and relationships that I observed between a seven year old girl with a disability and her peers were the third theme. In the second qualitative case study three themes also emerged. The first was the role the school played in children's social relationships, the second was the opportunities available to the children to interact and the third theme was the characteristics of the social interactions and relationships that I observed between an eight year old girl with a disability and her peers.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2005. / Principal faculty advisor: Samuel L. Gaertner, Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references.

In everyday life, there are many situations that elicit emotional reactions to an individual's plight, leading to empathic thoughts and helping behaviors. But what if the observed situation involves fictional characters rather than real life people? The main goal of this dissertation was to investigate the extent that empathic thoughts and helping behaviors characterize children's responses to fictional social interactions, as well as to real ones. Another goal was to develop a new measure of prosocial behavior. In Study 1, 60 undergraduate students (36 female; Mage = 19.87, SDage = 4.46) played two computerized ball-tossing games, one with 3 co-players who were believed to be other students and one in which a ball was tossed between 3 walls. During the second half of each game, one of the co-players/walls was excluded by the other two co-players/walls; the participant's subsequent increase in passes to the excluded co-player/wall was recorded. Participants increased their passes to the excluded real co-player more than to the excluded wall, indicating that the increase in the Real Condition were attempts to help another person, rather than simply to even out the distribution of passes. Study 2 extended these findings to children and tested the relationship between reactions to real and fictional social interactions. Seventy-one 5- and 8-year-old children (36 females; 35 5-year-olds: Mage = 5 years, 8.2 months, SDage = 2.4 months; 36 8-year-olds: Mage = 8 years, 6.5 months, SDage = 2.9 months) played the computerized ball tossing game with (1) other children they believed to be real, (2) novel cartoon characters, and (3) walls. One of the co-players/walls was excluded in the second half of each game. Although children reported similar empathic reactions towards the excluded real and fictional co-players, they increased their passes to the excluded real co-player more than to the excluded fictional character or wall (controlling for individual differences in real life empathy). These results suggest that children's emotional reactions to what they experience in fiction and in real life are similar, but they take the behavioral steps to help another individual only when that individual is believed to be a real person.

This dissertation analyzes the complex relationships between language, immigration, and labor and housing market outcomes. First, I model the urban labor market as segmented by language barriers. The prediction of this segmentation theory is confirmed by Canadian Census data, which allow me to identify a worker's labor market segment by her work language. Second, I explore whether the housing market reflects people's willingness to pay for higher quality social-ethnic interactions. By combining housing transaction data and Census information, I am able to test such a relationship with positive results. Finally, I ask what properties housing price series have if some people have better knowledge of the future immigration/migration flows to a city. Under this setup, the price series become serially correlated and the price volatility varies over time. The model also explains the long-standing price-volume relationship in housing transaction data. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

We conducted a contingency analysis to evaluate if a sequential relation between social initiations and positive social responses increased for both therapists and children with autism following a conditioned reinforcement procedure. Participants included child-therapist dyads, which were previously identified as having low rapport. These dyads were observed prior to and following an intervention designed to establish therapists' social behavior as a reinforcer. Sessions consisted of unstructured play between the therapist and child. Results from a Yule's Q analysis show that both the child and adult positive responding to the others' social initiations increased following the intervention. Findings highlight the reciprocal effects of therapist-child interactions as well as the effectiveness of establishing social attention as a reinforcer via an operant discrimination training procedure.

The aim of the study is to analyze how 18 year old Instagram users experience the strategic social interaction, which can be seen as a digital interaction online while using Instagram application. The main focus was to se how it affects and influences social life outside the digital sphere.    The study consists of two focus groups with a total of eight young secondary upper school students. This method worked out with reality-based scenarios based on Instagram, which we in our study refer to as “cases”. With the case the young students discussed their thoughts, opinions and ideas. In addition to the focus groups, the study was supplemented with two interviews. A total of three theories were used to analyze the material; Pierre Bourdieu's Habitus and social capital, Jay Blumer and Denis McQuails Uses and Gratification and Anja Hirdman's perspectives on gender in society and in digital media.  The result showed that 18 years old users tend to strategically use different combinations at the platform Instagram to influence their social life - the social room, a sphere that involves people in the real life (meetings). The fact that young people are affected both positively and negatively was also evident. Instagram can be seen as an interconnection tool but also a source of inspiration where you can escape your reality. However, all participants were aware that those who exist on the platform are exaggerated and far from reality.

As a pattern of growth, sprawl is often criticized for its extensive negative impacts. These impacts range from economic costs to health and environmental problems. Critics of sprawl have also emphasized the negative consequences of this type of growth for social neighborhood ties. The physical environment of sprawling areas, characterized by low population density, segregation of land-uses, and lack of public spaces does not provide spaces for social interaction. On the contrary, transit-oriented and mixed-use neighborhoods might encourage interaction among residents because individuals are more likely to walk from place to place which might increase opportunities for informal contact and gather. Although there is a large body of research that study the impacts of sprawl, there is little empirical research of the impacts of sprawl on social interactions among neighbors. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding of sprawl impacts and to fill this gap in the current literature by exploring the relationship between urban sprawl and neighborhood social interactions at the metropolitan level. According to my results, while neither an overall index of sprawl, nor individual indicators are observed to have a statistical significant association with different dimensions of neighbor interaction; a statistical significant association was found between the use of public spaces and the type and frequency of neighbor interaction among participants in this research. As such, the use of public parks and plazas, public libraries, and in some cases community centers is positively associated with neighborhood social interaction. These results, obtained while statistically controlling for demographic characteristics, highlight the importance of public spaces on the behavior of participants.

No description available.

No description available.