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Dementia is characterized as a progressive loss of brain function that results in the deterioration of many cognitive and physical abilities. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, causing steady declines in memory, functional abilities, and mental functioning. With a projected increase of degenerative illnesses, such as AD, family caregiving for individuals with the disease is also steadily increasing. Caring for an individual with AD has been characterized as a “career,” and within this career are a number of key transitions, including the onset of caregiving. Preexisting caregiving research reveals a number of negative consequences for AD family caregivers, including depression, overload, and physical health complications. The purpose of this study was to examine how different patterns of caregiving onset (gradual and abrupt) and role occupancy (how many roles the caregiver is holding) impact mental health and physical health outcomes for AD caregivers. This study also explored how cognitive decline and behavioral problems found within the care-recipient have the potential to moderate these relationships. Cross-sectional, quantitative data from one hundred participants completing self-administered surveys was used in this study. A series of one-way ANOVAS and multiple regression analyses were conducted to address the study’s aims. Results indicated that care-recipient cognition and behavioral problems moderated the relationship between caregiving onset and mental health outcomes, including depression, role overload, and role captivity for caregivers who experienced a more abrupt entry into the caregiving role. Results suggest the importance of considering moderating factors within the caregiving career, as well as different caregiving onset transitions. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed, as well as directions for future research, including prospective caregiving research.

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The purpose of this study is to do a research about some pedagogues’ perceptions of the social phenomenon of bullying, about the roles that can occur and how these pedagogues consider themselves to work accordingly. Our research questions are therefore: What beliefs about the social phenomenon of bullying has the pedagogues? What roles emerge in different bullying situations according to the pedagogues? How do the pedagogues work with bullying and the roles that emerge? The study provides insight into how different approaches to bullying can contribute to various pedagogical implications in anti-bullying work. In our theoretical part we present general issues and the roles that different writers describe. We have chosen earlier research that addresses the roles that may emerge. This qualitative study is based on eight pedagogues’ interview responses, which we have processed and analyzed. Our results and our analysis is presented in four categories; how to treat each other, pedagogues perception of bullying, how to work with bullying and roles. The results of this study have shown that if you as a pedagogue have an understanding of the roles that can occur, the work with bullying can possibly become easier. The results have also shown that the pedagogues’ perceptions of the roles are similar to each other. Even how the pedagogues work with bullying, both in general and in prevention purposes, arise in our results. In the discussion we discuss, based on our previous research, pedagogues beliefs about bullying, their work with bullying and the roles that can occur. We conclude with our own thoughts and further research / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka pedagogernas föreställningar om det sociala fenomenet mobbning, om vilka roller som kan uppstå samt hur dessa pedagoger anser sig arbeta utifrån detta. Våra frågeställningar är därför: Vilka föreställningar om det sociala fenomenet mobbning finns hos pedagogerna? Vilka roller uppstår i olika mobbningssituationer enligt pedagogerna? Hur anser sig pedagogerna arbeta med mobbning och dess roller som uppstår? Studien ger en inblick i hur olika förhållningssätt till mobbning kan bidra till olika pedagogiska implikationer i antimobbningsarbetet. I vår teoridel presenterar vi det socialpsykologiska perspektivet samt vilka roller olika författare beskriver. Vi har valt tidigare forskning som behandlar de roller som kan uppstå. Denna kvalitativa studie bygger på åtta pedagogers intervjusvar, som vi sedan har bearbetat och analyserat. Vårt resultat och vår analys presenteras utifrån fyra kategorier; Hur man behandlar varandra, pedagogernas uppfattning om mobbning, arbetet med mobbning och roller. Resultatet av denna studie har visat att om man som pedagog har förståelse för de roller som kan uppstå, kan man eventuellt lättare arbeta med mobbning. Resultatet har även visat att pedagogernas föreställningar om rollerna liknar varandra. Även hur pedagogerna arbetar med mobbning, både generellt och förebyggande, framkommer i vårt resultat. I diskussionen diskuterar vi pedagogernas föreställningar om och arbetet med mobbning och de roller som kan uppstå utifrån vår tidigare forskning. Vi avslutar med egna tankar och vidare forskning.

Structuralist theories of properties state that properties are individuated by their nomological or causal roles. It has previously been suggested that structuralism is incompatible with robust conceptions of qualia. In this paper, I argue that structuralism should be taken as a theory of de re representation, and under this formulation it is able to accommodate qualia as intrinsic, introspectable properties of experiences. I then turn to various thought experiments used by qualia theorists to expand the notion of qualia, and find the majority of these compatible with structuralism as well. I conclude that the structuralists and qualia theorists need not be at odds with each other.

This essay is based on the argument that Wilkie Collins, in his novel The Woman in White (1859), the first sensational novel and prequel to the detective genre, challenges stereotypical female roles in his presentation of the two sisters Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe. Through a comparative analysis of the two sisters, it is shown that Laura represents the traditional Victorian woman, while Marian challenges these ideals, and, through her, Collins creates a new type of literary heroine. The relationship between the sisters is also examined in more detail than has been done before. In addition to this analysis, the essay also contains a didactic chapter which demonstrates how a teacher can use The Woman in White in the language classroom as well as showing how this will benefit the development of students’ language, critical thinking and knowledge of literature.

This article investigates the experience of loneliness among a group of elderly ladies. Elderly persons are making up an increasing portion of the population. Research is therefore important, because loneliness is a threat to quality of life and indicates a bad prognosis during aging. Aging is associated with a decline in the different abilities and body functions. It is marked by changes and multidimensional losses that often imply the redefinition of roles. Little research is available that explores the subjective experiences of elderly women. It was decided to do a qualitative, phenomenological study on the experiences of loneliness among white Afrikaans-speaking women. A phenomenological research approach enables the researcher to discover participants' perceptions, experiences and unique understanding of what loneliness involves. The research was undertaken in the context of a service centre where functioning elderly ladies voluntarily participated in the research. Fifteen elderly ladies were involved in the research by means of purposeful sampling, and their experiences of loneliness were shared through visual clay projections (known as the Mmogo method™), a focus group discussion, individual interviews and journal entries. The Mmogo method™ attaches value to the symbolic, contextual foundation of meanings and provides valuable information about socially constructed aspects that are often difficult to verbalise. Various guidelines were followed to ensure the reliability of the findings, such as the triangulation of data sources, checking the findings with the participants, an extended period in the research field and the inclusion of rich descriptions to corroborate the findings. Two central themes emerged from the thematic data analysis process, namely causes of loneliness and strategies to deal with loneliness. The causes of loneliness which were identified, point towards multiple losses at a personal level, interpersonal losses, changed family relations and a world of living that keeps getting smaller. The strategies to deal with loneliness were indicated by elderly women as the actualising of religion, reminiscing on the past, an active involvement in life and denial. The most important contribution made by this research is the discovery that elderly white ladies experience an intimate loss of the "self" because their own identity was strongly associated with the specific roles and functions that were defined by the socio-cultural context in which they were socialised. These functions and roles emphasised the ultimate authority of the man, as opposed to women's dependence and subjection. In this process, women did not develop an independent identity that could continue once the prescribed traditional roles no longer applied. Another interesting finding is that elderly women find it comforting to reminisce on the past and they also find that the knowledge they gain from the experience can be applied in their lives again. This study could possibly have been extended to elderly women in other cultures, in order to obtain a richer description of the research phenomenon. Various practical suggestions were made to the service centre to support elderly women to process the multiple losses, to question socially acceptable roles and functions of women and to create own interests. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This article investigates the experience of loneliness among a group of elderly ladies. Elderly persons are making up an increasing portion of the population. Research is therefore important, because loneliness is a threat to quality of life and indicates a bad prognosis during aging. Aging is associated with a decline in the different abilities and body functions. It is marked by changes and multidimensional losses that often imply the redefinition of roles. Little research is available that explores the subjective experiences of elderly women. It was decided to do a qualitative, phenomenological study on the experiences of loneliness among white Afrikaans-speaking women. A phenomenological research approach enables the researcher to discover participants' perceptions, experiences and unique understanding of what loneliness involves. The research was undertaken in the context of a service centre where functioning elderly ladies voluntarily participated in the research. Fifteen elderly ladies were involved in the research by means of purposeful sampling, and their experiences of loneliness were shared through visual clay projections (known as the Mmogo method™), a focus group discussion, individual interviews and journal entries. The Mmogo method™ attaches value to the symbolic, contextual foundation of meanings and provides valuable information about socially constructed aspects that are often difficult to verbalise. Various guidelines were followed to ensure the reliability of the findings, such as the triangulation of data sources, checking the findings with the participants, an extended period in the research field and the inclusion of rich descriptions to corroborate the findings. Two central themes emerged from the thematic data analysis process, namely causes of loneliness and strategies to deal with loneliness. The causes of loneliness which were identified, point towards multiple losses at a personal level, interpersonal losses, changed family relations and a world of living that keeps getting smaller. The strategies to deal with loneliness were indicated by elderly women as the actualising of religion, reminiscing on the past, an active involvement in life and denial. The most important contribution made by this research is the discovery that elderly white ladies experience an intimate loss of the "self" because their own identity was strongly associated with the specific roles and functions that were defined by the socio-cultural context in which they were socialised. These functions and roles emphasised the ultimate authority of the man, as opposed to women's dependence and subjection. In this process, women did not develop an independent identity that could continue once the prescribed traditional roles no longer applied. Another interesting finding is that elderly women find it comforting to reminisce on the past and they also find that the knowledge they gain from the experience can be applied in their lives again. This study could possibly have been extended to elderly women in other cultures, in order to obtain a richer description of the research phenomenon. Various practical suggestions were made to the service centre to support elderly women to process the multiple losses, to question socially acceptable roles and functions of women and to create own interests. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

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