M.A. / Mental health workers are becoming more and more aware of the need to address all youths at risk in South Africa. While different contexts place youths at different types of risks, of particular interest in this study, is the phenomenon of street youths – a visible manifestation of a disrupted political and socio-economic society. Over time, it has come to be recognised that it is not enough to simply place these children in institutions, but that it would be more helpful to understand who these children are as individuals. Knowing how they function on an emotional and psychological level, their culture, their values and their dreams has profound implications for interventions that aim at improving the quality of their lives. Moreover, understanding the needs of these youths in more depth provides them with the opportunity to be included in decision-making processes pertinent to their future as contributing members of society. In view of the above, this study examines the personality development of street youths with the purpose that mental health workers combine developmental principles into their interventions. Thus, it is argued that by building on the knowledge that these youths already have of themselves and their lives, and by carefully examining their developmental needs, more appropriate and responsible programs can be created. Many studies on street youths have found that there is a high incidence of pathology in street youths. Much of this has been attributed to the abusive, dysfunctional and neglected home environments that these youths come from, and is generally exacerbated by the life style they lead on the streets. Therefore, this study examines the context from which street youths have emerged with particular emphasis on family systems, social contexts, beliefs and values, and the general infrastructure of the community at a government level. It was decided to use projective testing on a sample of street youths in the hope of identifying to what extent these youths' development has been compromised. In this respect, their needs, traits, strengths, conflicts and defenses were examined. The results were then integrated with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as well as Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory, and then examined against the backdrop of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory. The results of this study found that generally, healthy development in these youths has, indeed, been compromised. Any need for achievement, autonomy, dependency or security was found to be absent in these youths. It has therefore, been argued that these youths have been arrested at their first level of development, mainly because their primary focus is on fulfilling their basic physiological needs, to the extent that any higher order needs cannot be met. The results did, however, find that the majority of the youths in this sample are extroverted and flexible, and despite their living conditions, they are not negative or evasive. Whether these traits are inherent or learned is unknown, however, it is argued that these traits assist them to survive more successfully on the street. It was also found that, although these youths are not very adaptable, they are accessible, a possible survival skill making them more receptive to both welfare institutions and the public, on whom they depend on for their survival. Interestingly, it was found that a significant percentage of these youths indicate a presence of organicity. While the source of this may be due to extensive substance abuse, physical abuse or birth defects, its presence may also explain the presence (or absence) of other traits and conflicts in this sample. As such, these youths do indicate any significant pathological conflicts, except for paranoia. The presence of paranoia is to be expected in these children because, in order to survive, these youths need to be constantly alert to the dangers in their environment. This finding also lends support to the fact that these youths should not be pathologised but must rather be seen within the larger context of societal problems and issues. Finally, it was found that the youths in this sample do not indicate defenses. This is an unusual finding as by the time they reach adolescence, these youths should have developed certain defenses in order for successful negotiation of the environment to occur. Further study could shed light on why defenses were absent in these youths. In conclusion, it has also been argued that it is important to note that, because different studies indicate different results, it must be recognised that street youths experience street life differently, and that not all street youths experience negative life circumstances as equally stressful. Thus, it can be concluded that healthy personality development of street youths is not solely based on their experiences at home or on the street. It may also depend on predispositional traits, how they perceive their situations, how they construe themselves, their internal locus of control, their resilience levels and their social support systems.

In recent years, region governments actively impelled the buskers to be engaged in the street performance. They handle the examination and certification of buskers and open public space to become the legal venues of street performance, so that the arts enter into daily life of the city to result in new cityscape. The festival has been regarded as one of the most rapidly growing form of tourism. Using the street performance festival to develop the culture tourism industry, it is profitable for marketing cities and gaining economic benefits. This study is to use TOWS matrix, in-depth interviews with experts and famous foreign cases as the foundation of the operation strategies of Kaohsiung city International Street Performance Festival; then use Delphi method to evaluate strategies by industrial, governmental and academic experts. Finally, the researcher concludes strategies regarding to five aspects, which are ¡§Environmental Resources¡¨, ¡§Organization and Manpower¡¨, ¡§Activities Planning¡¨,¡¨ Marketing Publicity¡¨ and ¡§Financial Planning¡¨.

Based on the recognition that children are important social actors, researchers within the geographical discipline are now calling for more research on children as a neglected grouping undergoing socio-spatial marginalisation.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

In my diploma thesis I would like to focus on dance battles events and on the street dance life style as it's the topic of my diploma thesis. I have been very close of the street dance world, as a dancer and an observer, since I witnessed countless dance battles, concerts, camps, workshops and so on - which gave me the knowledge to express myself on this topic and gave my perspective in both ways: from up to the stage and audience. I was always very curios and wanted to share with, such as: how does the street dance events looks like, what's happening there, what kind people attending it, what is the motivation for dancers, djs, choreographers, producers etc…? Where those events are happening and how often is them happening? My curiosity crossed the Czech Republic border, I wanted to know more from outside of my country. I believe that having the knowledge of what's going on abroad gives you power of discuss and compare things with confidence and comfortability. Mainly my research methods were observing and interviewing, then field diaries, video documentation, collecting as much information as possible from people that lives in this world nonstop, which gave me so much knowledge from inside, how they behave, how they communicate, their attitude etc. This scenario always fascinated me and after attending to many events, battles, meetings and jam sessions (as a dancer and observer), I was able to collect different point of views from another dancers, choreographers and guests and compare it with my own thoughts regarding to it, using my countless notes and hours of recording interviews, those tools combined gave me so much information.

M.A. / „Street trading is an activity which involves the selling of goods or the supply of services for a reward in a public road‟ (City of Johannesburg, 2009b: 5-7). This minor dissertation is an examination of the conditions and aspirations of street traders in Johannesburg‟s Central Business District (CBD), specifically Kerk Street. The underlying rationale is the fact that, while there is a small, but growing body of literature on street traders in South Africa, there is little on street trading in the Johannesburg CBD. Moreover, to the best of the researcher‟s knowledge, virtually none of this deals with the views and aspirations of the street traders themselves. This dissertation is based on the following research question: How did the conditions and aspirations of street traders in Kerk Street change between 2005 and 2009? Fieldwork was conducted in two phases: 2005/6 and 2009. The separation in periods of study, and the opportunity it provided for comparison, was unintended and largely as a consequence of work pressures. But it proved unexpectedly beneficial. The researcher‟s original concern was to discover how traders viewed their existence and detail of the developments that they would like to see. Conditions were clearly poor and tales of dissatisfaction were predominant in informal conversations and formal interviews. When the researcher returned to the field in 2009, the assumption was that conditions would be the same, allowing me simply to update my earlier assessment. However, this was not the case. Whilst much was familiar, some conditions had improved and the traders were relatively more positive about their situation and more optimistic about the future. It is clear that the Johannesburg City Council has intervened to introduce improved conditions, and this contributed to improved morale amongst traders. It is recommended that there be continued engagement between street traders, the City of Johannesburg, and official bodies, namely the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), Central Johannesburg Partnership and Metro Trading Council. This will serve as inspiration for more traders to learn how to grow their businesses, to ensure that infrastructure around trading is further improved, and to increase adherence to and acceptance of relevant by-laws concerning the traders.

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published_or_final_version / abstract / Social Work and Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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