The aim of this study is to analyse and critically assess the nature, scope and basis of South Africa‟s official external threat perception as it developed during the period from 1994 to 2012. Accordingly, the assessment allows for the identification of shortcomings in the current national security policy on external security threats, based on the alignment of external threat perceptions with the Government Programme of Action. Essentially what had to be determined is whether perceived official threats correspond with the actual situation. Accordingly, the main research question of the study is: What is the nature, scope and basis of the post-1994 official external threat perception of South Africa? The research problem generated four subsidiary questions: When does a security issue become a national threat? What types of threat are there? How does the South African government perceive these threats? And whose security is threatened? In responding to the main research questions, the study‟s findings note a change in perceptions during the post-Cold War era as to what constituted threats to security. The focus shifted from traditional to non-traditional threats to national security, because most current threats are non-military and transnational in nature. The analysis of South Africa‟s official external threat perception is informed by the changed views of Government towards what are considered the main threats to national security. The study concludes with key findings in response to the stated problem and with specific recommendations. The study confirmed that the nature of threats and security debates post-1994 have changed constantly with the expansion of the security agenda beyond state and military security. The official viewpoint is that South Africa at present is not faced with any military threats. Emphasis is currently placed on human beings as the main object of security. Most identified threats are transnational in nature and these relate to the illegal flow of immigrants, terrorism, organised crime, climate change (linked to food and water security), regional instability and other socio-economic threats. These threats are being perceived and articulated by Government through policy announcements and public speeches, also validated in the critical analysis of various scholars. The concept of non-traditional threats still lacks a commonly accepted definition; hence the study proposes the need for South Africa to define and outline non-military security threats in a comprehensive manner, preferably through the development of a South African External Threat Perception Framework. Developing such a framework will assist security agencies (such as analysts) and other stakeholders in providing advice and guidance to Government in identifying external security threats. This initiative could eliminate the abuse of power by various stakeholders in securitising any issue as a threat to national security, and instead divert those resources to other Government services. Provision should also be made in the form of policy initiatives on the role of military force and other agencies in addressing non-military security threats. Thus, the development of key elements of an integrated national security strategy in order to address external security issues and threats is essential. / Dissertation (MSecurity Studies)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2015 / Political Sciences / MSecurity Studies / Unrestricted

This diploma thesis focuses on the so-called "migration crisis" and its impact on public opinion across the European Union (EU) between the years 2014 and 2017. It stems from existing literature that works with the concept of perceived group threat. The main goal is to analyze individual-level and contextual-level factors that played a key role in a certain development of native population's negative attitudes towards migrants and refugees. Such context is represented by the EU member states. An important part of the analysis deals with the relative imporance of contextual-level factors vis-à-vis individual-level determinants. Based on the results of multinomial multilevel logistic regression, the study finds that contextual-level characteristics had a substantial impact on negative attitudes towards immigrants and a large impact on negative attitudes towards refugees. Moreover, the importance of contextual determinants increased in 2015 and 2016, respectively, followed by a decline in the subsequent period. The analyses also revealed that during the "migration crisis" the impact of specific categories of explanatory variables evolved differently. Furthermore, it was shown that educational attainment, preferred social identity and different historical immigration legacies had a considerably...

Submitted thesis is addressing the phenomenon of social exclusion from the gender perspective. Local issues of social exclusion is trying to resolve Central Bohemian town Kralupy nad Vltavou by producing written documents as an instrument to deal with this phenomenon. Documents look into the current situation and possibilities for change in order to achieve gradual elimination of negative effects related to social exclusion in all domains of citizens live, male or female, should they be affected by social exclusion. By using the methodology of critical gender qualitative content analysis Im to find out the way the concerned documents include the subject of gender and what role the gender stereotypes play. In the theoretical section I focus on the field of social work, which is as a discipline, heavily affected by stereotyped gender views and since its origins, faces constant misconceptions of being predominantly female profession. Key words: social exclusion, gender intersection, homelessness, institution, social integration, ethnicity, threat, gender, family, female, male

This Master Thesis called "The Securitization of Immigration. An Assessment of the Extent of Securitization of Immigration in the German Political Discourse in the aftermath of the 2015 European Refugee Crisis" aims to identify the influence of the 2015 European refugee crisis on the German political discourse in reference to immigration and asylum. Since immigration became one of the greatest security concerns in the post-Cold War era, it appears plausible that the unprecedented high-numbers of asylum applications in 2015/16 triggered securitization in Germany. This impression is reinforced in reference to the increasing popularity of the anti-Islam, far-right PEGIDA movement and the right-wing populist party AfD. However, the merely welcoming attitude towards refugees among the German population, which attracted attention all over the world, challenges the securitization thesis, because the political discourse is assumed to be oriented towards public opinion. Thus, the political discourse in the aftermath of the 2015 European Refugee Crisis is assumed to be torn between fear (securitization discourse) and optimism (humanitarian discourse) in regard to immigration and asylum. By conducting a discourse analysis, contextualized speech-acts based on a generic structure used by Holger Stritzel were...

of diploma thesis ‚Seek Russians behind everything: Critical research of "Russian disinformation campaign" discourse in the Czech republic'. Author: Bc. Adam Čech Supervised by: Dagmar Rychnovská, M.A., LL.M., Ph.D. Study programme: International relations Year of work defence: 2019 This study researches the "Russian disinformation campaign threat" discourse, that was established in the Czech republic since 2014. The study utilizes a method termed for the purpose of this work as "lesser discourse analysis". It explores the origins and influences that played a role in creation of a specific understanding of the topic. Subsequently it engages in a critical analysis of the discourse and assesses whether the understanding of the Russian hybrid threat, especially regarding the disinformation, is legitimate and based on known facts and correct interpretation of them, or whether it is not (partially) based on delusions, myths, logical shortcuts, misinformation (or possibly disinformation) on part of the creators and active participators of the discourse. The study also presents a set of recommendations to "straighten" the discourse on this important topic. The study engages in analysing of the process of the agenda-setting regarding the topic through the lenses of "securitization theory ". It identifies...

The violation of societal shared convictions is a phenomenon which can occur in different situations of daily living. Previous research investigated this phenomenon in various domains (e.g., morality and competence) separately while neglecting the similarities. This dissertation’s basic assumption is that violations of societal shared convictions in various domains lead to the same state, namely a legitimacy crisis, as the construct of legitimacy is closely related to social norms and values. A legitimacy crisis is an individual’s perception that his or her actions or characteristics are not or less appropriate as they are discrepant to the societal shared convictions in the given situation. Based on the general assumption that legitimacy crises go beyond existing theories on the violation of societal shared convictions, this work contributes to three general issues: First, it provides a theoretical integration into and continuation of overarching theoretical frameworks of legitimacy, discrepancy and threat. Second, it conducts an empirical examination of legitimacy crises throughout the two main domains of morality and competence, focusing especially on the mediating function of legitimacy crises between the discrepancy and subsequent consequences. Third, it contributes a theoretical development and empirical examination of emotional and behavioral consequences of legitimacy crises across the two main domains of morality and competence. To address these issues, this dissertation discusses the general meaning of legitimacy in the context of social and organizational psychology research and especially the different perspectives on legitimacy, thereby working out a deeper understanding of the self and legitimacy. Furthermore, this work demonstrates that experiencing legitimacy crises is threatening for one´s self as it followed by specific emotional and behavioral reactions. To empirically investigate the theoretical considerations, nine studies in various domains with different methods (scenarios, recall, face-to-face interactions and field studies) were conducted. The four studies in Chapter 4, four studies generally focus on the construct of legitimacy crises in the context of morality and competence, and examine the mediating function of a legitimacy crisis on the emotional and behavioral consequences. While participants in the first two studies worked on a scenario about a psychology intern in a hospital, participants in the last two studies dealt with unmoral behavior (in-basket exercise and a recall task about an unmoral behavior). Independent from the domain, all four studies of Chapter 4 provide evidence that legitimacy crises are judgments of a perceived violation of societal shared convictions. The results show the expected mediating function of legitimacy crises between the perception of the violation of societal shared convictions and moral emotions (guilt and shame). Whereas feelings of guilt led to an increase of moral behavior, feelings of shame decreased moral behavior. As an example for the moral domain, Chapter 5 takes a closer look on the role of bystanders in the context of social exclusion. Bystanders’ inactions violate the social norms of inclusion and equality. Until now, research on social exclusion has focused primarily on targets and perpetrators, demonstrating that both experience social exclusion situations as threatening. This chapter wants to expand this knowledge and improve the understanding of the psychological processes of bystanders to potentially facilitate interventions for social exclusion situations. The results of three studies with varying methods (recall and face-to-face interaction paradigm) strengthen the general findings of Chapter 4. Bystanders who evaluate their inaction as less appropriate report more feelings of shame and guilt which lead to more social defense reactions compared to targets. To extend the general findings on competence in Chapter 4, Chapter 6 exemplarily examines leaders who perceive that they are not able to meet the expectations of the leadership role in two field studies. The findings demonstrate that leaders, who perceived to be violating the societal expectations towards their role as leader, evaluated their actions as less appropriate thereby eliciting a higher extent of job insecurity that led to more silence behavior. Moreover, the results show that leader silence and follower silence are negatively related, especially when the leader is perceived as unjust. In line with the findings of Chapter 4 and 5, the construct of legitimacy crises is also a relevant mediator in the context of leadership. In general, the theoretical considerations and the empirical findings of this dissertation demonstrate the important role of the construct of legitimacy crises in various domains and emphasize its mediating function between the violation of societal shared convictions and the subsequent emotional and behavioral reactions. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications. To understand the underlying process of discrepancies with normative standards, the Self-Standards Model and the construct of legitimacy crises provide an important theoretical framework, which works independent from the specific domain. Understanding legitimacy crises provides starting points for the development of interventions for people experiencing legitimacy crises. / Die Verletzung von gesellschaftlich geteilten Überzeugungen ist ein Phänomen, welches in verschiedenen Situationen des täglichen Lebens auftreten kann. Die bisherige Forschung hat dieses Phänomen in unterschiedlichen Bereichen (bspw., Moral und Kompetenz) getrennt betrachtet und mögliche Gemeinsamkeiten vernachlässigt. Diese Dissertation geht davon aus, dass die Verletzung von gesellschaftlich geteilten Überzeugungen in unterschiedlichen Bereichen zu dem gleichen Zustand führt, einer Legitimitätskrise, da gerade das Konzept der Legitimität mit gesellschaftlichen Normen und Werten eng verknüpft ist. Eine Legitimitätskrise ist die Wahrnehmung eines Individuums, dass deren Handlungen oder Eigenschaften in Bezug zu gesellschaftlichen Überzeugungen in einer bestimmten Situation gar nicht oder wenig angemessen sind. Ausgehend von der generellen Annahme, dass Legitimitätskrisen über bestehende Theorien im Rahmen der Verletzung von gesellschaftlichen Überzeugungen hinausgehen, trägt diese Arbeit zu drei generellen Punkten bei: Erstens, eine theoretische Integration und Weiterführung von übergreifenden theoretischen Rahmenmodellen in Bereichen Legitimität, Diskrepanzen und Bedrohungen. Zweitens, eine empirische Untersuchung von Legitimitätskrisen in den beiden zentralen Bereichen Moral und Kompetenz. Drittens, theoretische Entwicklung und empirische Untersuchung von emotionalen und behavioralen Konsequenzen von Legitimitätskrisen in den beiden Bereichen Moral und Kompetenz. Zur Erreichung dieser Punkte wird im Rahmen der Dissertation zunächst die generelle Bedeutung von Legitimität im Kontext sozial und organisationspsychologischer Forschung diskutiert, besonders die verschiedenen Perspektiven von Legitimität. Dies dient vor allem der Herausarbeitung eines tieferen Verständnisses von Selbst und Legitimität. Des Weiteren geht diese Arbeit näher darauf ein, dass Legitimitätskrisen bedrohlich für das eigene Selbst sind und wie Menschen auf der emotionalen und behavioralen Ebene damit umgehen. Zur empirischen Untersuchung dieser theoretischen Überlegungen wurden neun Studien in unterschiedlichen Bereichen mit verschiedenen Methoden (Szenarien, Erinnerung, direkte Interaktionen und Feldstudien) durchgeführt. Kapitel 4 beschäftigt sich in vier Studien mit dem Konstrukt der Legitimitätskrise im Kontext von Moral und Kompetenz. Dabei wird auch die mediierende Funktion auf emotionale und behaviorale Konsequenzen näher untersucht. Während die Teilnehmer in den ersten beiden Studien an einem Szenario über ein Praktikum in einem Krankenhaus arbeiten, beschäftigen sich die Teilnehmer der letzten beiden Studien mit unmoralischen Verhaltensweisen (Postkorbübung und Erinnerungsaufgabe über unmoralisches Verhalten). Unabhängig vom Bereich legen alle vier Studien in Kapitel 4 nahe, dass Legitimitätskrisen Bewertungen einer wahrgenommenen Verletzung von gesellschaftlich geteilten Überzeugungen sind. Die Ergebnisse zeigen die mediierende Funktion von Legitimitätskrisen zwischen der wahrgenommenen Verletzung gesellschaftlich geteilter Überzeugungen und moralischen Emotionen (Schuld und Scham). Während Gefühle von Schuld zu einem Anstieg von moralischem Verhalten führen, reduzieren Gefühle von Scham moralisches Verhalten. Beispielhaft für den moralischen Bereich, beschäftigt sich Kapitel 5 näher mit der Rolle von Bystandern im Rahmen von Sozialem Ausschluss. Das Nichthandeln von Bystandern verletzt dabei soziale Normen von Inklusion und Gleichheit. Die bisherige Forschung hat sich hauptsächlich mit Opfern und Tätern auseinandergesetzt und zeigt, dass beide Situationen Sozialen Ausschlusses als bedrohlich empfinden. Dieses Kapitel möchte den bisherigen Wissensstand erweitern und die Erkenntnisse über die psychologischen Prozesse bei Bystandern verbessern um mögliche Interventionen daraus ableiten zu können. Die Ergebnisse von drei Studien mit ganz unterschiedlichen Methoden (Erinnerung und direkte Interkation) stärken die Befunde aus Kapitel 4. Im Vergleich zu Opfern bewerten Bystander ihr Nichthandeln als weniger angemessen, berichten mehr Scham und Schuld, was wiederum zu mehr sozialen Verteidigungsreaktionen führt. Kapitel 6 vertieft die generellen Erkenntnisse aus Kapitel 4 im Bereich Kompetenz, indem es sich im Rahmen von zwei Feldstudien exemplarisch mit Führungskräften beschäftigt, welche sich nicht in der Lage sehen, die an sie gestellten Anforderungen zu erfüllen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Führungskräfte, die eine Verletzung von gesellschaftlich geteilten Überzeugungen an sich wahrnehmen, ihre Handlungen als weniger angemessen bewerten, was zu einem höheren Ausmaß an Jobunsicherheit führt, dass wiederum Schweigeverhalten erhöht. Außerdem zeigt sich, dass Schweigeverhalten von Führungskräften und Mitarbeitern in einem negativen Zusammenhang steht, vor allem wenn die Führungskraft als ungerecht wahrgenommen wird. Wie in Kapitel 4 und 5 zeigt sich auch hier, dass das Konstrukt der Legitimitätskrisen als relevanter Mediator im Rahmen von Führung angesehen werden kann. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass die theoretischen Überlegungen als auch empirischen Befunde dieser Dissertation zeigen, dass das Konstrukt der Legitimitätskrise in verschiedenen Bereichen eine wichtige Rolle spielt, vor allem die mediierende Funktion zwischen Verletzung gesellschaftlich geteilter Überzeugungen und dem unmittelbar nachfolgenden emotionalen und behavioralen Reaktionen. Aus den Ergebnissen lassen sich theoretische und praktische Implikationen ableiten. Um die zugrundeliegenden Prozesse von Diskrepanzen besser verstehen zu können, bietet das Self-Standards Model und das Konstrukt der Legitimitätskrise ein geeignetes Rahmenmodell, welches unabhängig von dem jeweiligen Bereich funktioniert. Des Weiteren liefern diese Erkenntnisse Ansatzpunkte um Interventionen für Menschen entwickeln zu können, deren Legitimitätswahrnehmung in eine Krise geraten ist.

Med kritisk diskursanalytisk metod har denna studie analyserat hur två svenska tidningar framställer hot och våld av elever mot lärare. Studien ämnar ta reda på vilket sätt hot och våld används som ett begrepp, vilken innebörd som skapas och vilka diskurser om hot och våld som dominerar i tidningarna. Materialet som analyserades bestod av 14 texter, både debattartiklar och nyhetsartiklar, publicerade i Svenska Dagbladet och Aftonbladet under perioden 2014–2019. Faircloughs tredimensionella modell användes för den kritiska diskursanalysen vilket resulterade i tre dominerande diskurser; hot och våld som socialt begrepp, hot och våld är av kriminell karaktär och stökiga elever i utanförskap. En underliggande diskurs som uppmärksammats är elevernas röst hörs inte. Utifrån Faircloughs teori om kritisk diskursanalys och stämplingsteori diskuterades samtliga diskurser. Resultatet visar att inom diskurserna om hot och våld framställs en stereotypisk föreställning om elever i socialt utanförskap och i kriminalitet som riskerar att stämpla eleverna. Vidare kom studien fram till att tidningarnas användning av orden hot och våld används som ett samlingsbegrepp där få ifrågasätter dess innebörd. Det diskuteras även hur användningen av samlingsbegreppet medför en risk att begreppet tillämpas även i situationer som inte är kopplade till brottsliga handlingar. Socialarbetare som kommer i kontakt med människor som utför eller utsätts för hot och våld behöver vara uppmärksamma på hur detta framställs i media och vilka konsekvenser detta kan tänkas få i bemötande, bedömning och beslut inom socialt arbete. / With a critical discourse analytical method this study has analyzed how two Swedish newspapers portrays threat and violence by pupils against teachers. This study aims to find out how threats and violence as a concept is used, which definition of threats and violence that is produced and what discourses about threats and violence that dominates in the newspapers. The analyzed material consisted of 14 texts, including debate articles and news articles, published in Svenska Dagbladet and Aftonbladet between the years of 2014-2019. Fairclough’s three-dimensional model was used and resulted in three dominating discourses; threats and violence as a social concept, threats and violence is of criminal nature and careless pupils in exclusion. An underlying discourse was that the pupils’ voices were not heard. All discourses were discussed using Faircloughs theory on critical discourse analysis and labeling theory. The result showed that within the discourses of threats and violence there is a stereotypical conception about students in social exclusion and in crime that is at risk of labeling them. Furthermore, this study found that the newspapers use of the words threat and violence is used as a concept where few question its meaning. It is also discussed how the use of the concept leads to a greater risk of describing situations that are not associated with criminal actions. Social workers who encounter people who use or is subjected to violence need to be attentive on how it is portrayed in the media and what consequences it might have in encounters, assessment and decision-making within social work.

<p>This thesis presents research in the field of secure<br />software engineering. Two methods are<br />developed that, when combined, facilitate the<br />integration of software security design analysis<br />into the agile development workflow. The first<br />method is a training framework for creating<br />workshops aimed at teaching software engineers<br />on how to perform security design analysis. The<br />second method is a process that expands on the<br />security design analysis method to facilitate better<br />integration with the needs of the organization. The<br />first method is evaluated through a controlled<br />experiment, while the second method is evaluated<br />through comparative analysis and case study<br />analysis, where the process is tailored and<br />implemented for two different software vendors.</p> / <p>U sklopu disertacije izvr&scaron;eno je istraživanje u<br />oblasti razvoja bezbednog softvera. Razvijene su<br />dve metode koje zajedno omogućuju integraciju<br />bezbednosne analize dizajna softvera u proces<br />agilnog razvoja. Prvi metod predstavlja radni okvir<br />za konstruisanje radionica čija svrha je obuka<br />inženjera softvera kako da sprovode bezbednosnu<br />analizu dizajna. Drugi metod je proces koji<br />pro&scaron;iruje metod bezbednosne analize dizajna<br />kako bi podržao bolju integraciju spram potreba<br />organizacije. Prvi metod je evaluiran kroz<br />kontrolisan eksperiment, dok je drugi metod<br />evaluiran upotrebom komparativne analize i<br />analize studija slučaja, gde je proces<br />implementiran u kontekstu dve organizacije koje<br />se bave razvojem softvera.</p>

With more parts of our lives going digital than ever before, more parts of our lives are also endangered. Not enough research and studies are done on users and their usage of Internet of Things and Smart Homes, which makes them vulnerable to several risks and attacks. However, users are to some extent responsible for their own information and how they choose to protect themselves. If a user for example uses weak or the same passwords on accounts, they are exposed to attacks such as eavesdropping, masquerading and denial of service attacks among others. This thesis aims to research users, what responsibilities they have and what attacks they are exposed to as well as how exposed the users are when using Internet of Things and Smart Homes. It also aims to find out if higher knowledge about attacks and security breaches could affect users’ usage of Internet of Things. By conducting a questionnaire where Internet of Things users are asked and questioned about their habits, the results show that users tend to be irresponsible when connected. They use weak passwords and share them with others, they do not read manuals and security instructions and they take their security for granted and instead put it in the hands of the companies offering Internet of Things products and systems. However, the results from the questionnaire also shows that users are willing to adapt themselves, by both being willing to pay more for security but also by changing their habits online. / När fler och fler delar av våra liv digitaliseras mer än någonsin blir också fler delar av våra liv hotade. Det finns inte tillräcklig forskning och studier på användare och deras användande av Sakernas Internet och Smarta hem vilket gör dem sårbara för flera risker och attacker. Användare är dock till viss del själva ansvariga för sin information och hur de väljer att skydda sig själva. Om en användare till exempel använder svaga eller samma lösenord på konton är de utsatta för attacker såsom avlyssning, Masquerading och Denial of Service. Syftet med denna uppsats är att forska om användare, deras ansvar och vilka attacker de är utsatta för såväl som hur utsatta användarna är när de använder sig av Sakernas internet och Smarta hem. Uppsatsen syftar också till att se om högre kunskap om attacker och säkerhetsrisker kan påverka användares användande av Sakernas internet. Genom att utföra ett frågeformulär där användare av Sakernas internet frågas och ifrågasätts om sina vanor har resultatet visat att användare tenderar att vara oansvariga när de är uppkopplade. De använder svaga lösenord som de delar med andra, de läser inte manualer och säkerhetsföreskrifter och de tar sin säkerhet för givet och lägger den istället i händerna på företagen som erbjuder produkter och system i Sakernas internet. Resultaten från frågeformuläret visar dock också att användare är villiga att anpassa sig, både genom att betala mer för säkerhet men också att ändra sina vanor online.

The intention of this paper is to analyze the impact of a threat environment in the creation of a hi-tech cluster through the development of an independent defense industry. In order to conclude the implications of a military industry in the development of a hi-tech cluster, it was studied the case of the evolution of Israel’s defense industry into a diverse hi – tech industry (Silicon Wadi). This work emerges from a personal concern in order to understand if there are some benefits or positive side effects in developing an indigenous military industry.  Coming from a country in the developing process that has no military forces (Costa Rica) and at the same time has been struggling to create a hi-tech cluster, I wanted to learn what are the implications in the hi-tech sector for lacking an indigenous defense industry and a threat environment. As it will be presented in this study, the major implication of having an independent defense industry is that it creates a path dependency in the military sector and if it’s handled correctly through the cooperation between academia, military forces and business sectors it will be possible to create transitions of this technologies into civilian applications, diversifying the entrance of resources and creating an entrepreneur environment.