The aim of this study was to explore the self-concept of battered South African women. The ecosystemic approach was used to ground the battering experience. This qualitative framework was exploratory and also included an in-depth analysis of the battering experiences as narrated by abused women. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the data obtained were analysed through the use of the hermeneutic method. The following were the themes that emerged out of the narratives: dominance, control versus loss of control, connection versus disconnection, security versus insecurity, and feelings of degradation. The study provides a holistic understanding of battering and its impact on women’s selfconcept. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

The purpose of this study was to examine the life satisfaction of the wives of naval non-commissioned officers living in an isolated military suburb. As little is known about this phenomenon an exploratory design was used. A sample group of 81 wives was selected by means of stratified random sampling. Measuring instruments used were the Heimler Scale of Social Functioning and a needs assessment. The results of the study indicated that although a small majority of the wives experience their lives as satisfactory they have a great deal of frustration. The two largest areas of low satisfaction was work and finances. It seems that these wives have sufficient support systems. The lack of transport seems to be a problem for these wives. The needs assessment identified a great interest in, and a need for certain courses, hobbies, aerobic classes and a daycare centre. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

Sacha Guitry fit de sa vie le sujet principal de son œuvre brillante mais assez élégiaque et relativement mélancolique où les personnages suicidaires joués par lui sont assez fréquents. Dans son œuvre, l’osmose est quasiment complète entre le théâtre et la vie. Ses épouses actrices furent les premières à souffrir de cette osmose et de cette instrumentalisation de leur personne et elles se lassèrent presque toutes (sauf Marconi) d’être éternellement considérées comme des êtres élégants mais souvent muets, en dépit du train de vie brillant qu’il leur offrit. Il perdit ainsi périodiquement des partenaires de qualité (il ne remplacera jamais la très brillante Yvonne Printemps) car, l’une après l’autre, elles refusèrent de sacrifier leur vie personnelle au profit du programme théâtral et cinématographique d’un seul homme. Nous tenterons de voir pourquoi Guitry eut avec les acteurs-hommes de meilleures relations qu’avec les femmes érotisées comme ses cinq épouses. C’est pourquoi nous analyserons les rapports idylliques qu’il eut avec trois autres actrices (Carton, Pierry et Fusier–Gir) que le temps avait déjà marquées physiquement. Nous tenterons surtout de redonner vie à ses cinq actrices-épouses en tenant compte des études récentes relatives au "gender" au cinéma ainsi que des star-studies, même si aucune d’entre elles n’est vraiment une star. Nous nous efforcerons d’analyser les conséquences de son comportement souvent machiste et narcissique sur la vie et la carrière de ces femmes pendant 50 ans. Nous analyserons enfin ce qu’il leur apporta et ce qu’elles offrirent à son brillant cinéma par leur présence. / Sacha Guitry made his own life the main topic of his apparently cheerful and brilliant plays and films which are often also sometimes elegiac and melancholy. Surprisingly in his works, quite a few characters played by him seem to be fascinated by suicide. There is no real boundary in his works between life and theatre and the actresses who were also his wives suffered from this absence of a frontier-line between those two worlds. They also disliked the way he took unfair advantage of their personality in his plays and almost all of them (except Marconi) eventually got tired of being considered as very smart but speechless creatures, although he offered them a very luxurious way of life. He thus lost quite a number of excellent partners (actually he could never really replace Yvonne Printemps, the exceptional player and singer) because, one after the other, they refused to sacrifice their personal life for the benefit of someone with exacting prospects concerning the theatre and the cinema. We shall therefore try to understand why Guitry usually kept up a better relationship with men-actors than with actresses with obvious sex appeal, like his five wives. We shall then examine the perfect friendship he formed with three elderly actresses whose growing age was becoming quite noticeable. We shall try to "bring back to life" the real personalities of the five actresses who also became his wives by resorting to the recent discoveries about "gender" and star-studies. We shall also try to analyze the influence of his narcissistic and chauvinistic attitude upon the lives and careers of these actresses. We shall eventually try to find out what he brought them by his presence and what they added by theirs to his brilliant cinema.

The study explores the experiences of men who perpetrated violence against women in the domestic sphere. The study’s overarching concern is that violence has been largely seen as a women’s problem and not an issue that is central to men and yet in most cases are the perpetrators of this violence. Consequently, men have not been targeted in initiatives that curb domestic violence (Salo, 2005). It is in this frame of reference that this study saw it imperative to focus on the male perspective of gender violence. The study aims to find factors that contribute to male violence and in turn recommend practical and appropriate strategies of dealing with male violence perpetrators. The study drew its theoretical framework largely from the feminist theory, systems theory and the social learning theory in-order to gain insight into the different frameworks for making judgement about male violence against women. Feminists hold the view that, starting with people’s experiences is a powerful tool that provides the rational for their studies. The study was therefore qualitative in nature as it sought to gather men’s experiences of violent against their spouses; semi-structured interviews were utilized during data collection. A purposive sampling method was utilised to select ten men who were known to have perpetrated violence against their partners and five key informants with special knowledge on domestic violence. The research was conducted through the Department of Social Development in Alice in the Eastern Cape, which facilitated a trusting relationship between the researcher and its clients. The findings established that violence is used to maintain control and power over women. Men invoked hegemonic discourses as violence is employed as an instrument to suppress women, mostly in instances were women question their prerogatives and undermine their authority. It was evidenced that cultural practices such as ‘lobola’ (dowry) usually contribute to men’s use of violence. Most of the respondents understood violence from the physical dimension only, as violence was equated to beating and slapping. Added to that was the respondents’ inadequate understanding of domestic violence laws and legislation. The study also established that social service providers seem not to have concrete procedures and capacity to deal with perpetrators of domestic violence. In light of the problems discussed, the study recommends effective counseling and educational programs, policy improvement, capacitation of service providers and the criminal justice system and further research as strategies for dealing with male violence in the Nkonkobe District.

Submitted by Biblioteca Central (biblioteca@unicap.br) on 2017-11-21T18:48:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_raitza_araujo_santos_lima.pdf: 2866236 bytes, checksum: 3585156edbcadf5692c43d12a9cb771b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-21T18:48:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_raitza_araujo_santos_lima.pdf: 2866236 bytes, checksum: 3585156edbcadf5692c43d12a9cb771b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-06-12 / This works object was to study the stress and the quality of life in alcohol addict’s wives. Stress can be defined as an organism’s reaction, with physical and/or psychological, that occurs during a confronting situation that may frighten, irritate, excite or cause intense happiness (LIPP, 1996). To be related to an alcohol addict, according to Edwards (1999), tends to cause stress, mainly because of an unexpected behavior. In that matter alcohol addicts wives, in particular, don’t know what to expect when they find themselves with their husbands drunk. Before this scene we opted to research about the stress and the quality of life in alcohol addicts wives. In this research 31 alcohol addict wives were evaluated. Alcohol addicts were in the beginning of their ambulatorial rehabilitation treatment in a psychiatrical clinic in the city of Garanhuns – PE. The following instruments were used: Lipp’s Stress Symptom Inventory for Adults (ISSL); The Quality of Life Inventory (IQV) and interviews. The results showed that, 93.54% of the alcohol addicts wives presented stress, 67.7% in the resistance level and 12.9% in the level of exhaustion. To analyze the level of significance related to the occurrence of stress in the data of the present research, the X² (qui-quadrate) was used. The results found were considered significant for 1 α in a 1%. These can be indicating the harm caused by a close relationship between the alcoholics and their wives, interfering in their quality of life. The interviews analyzed identified that the wives deal with, in their daily routine, internal and external sources of stress. As to speak of the external stressful causes, one of the facts that overstresses Is the fact that she’s responsible for all families matters; also she doesn’t receive any help on how to cope with her husband, and added to that suffers verbal aggression. We found our that the internal sources are: the impossibility to identify any alternative so to help in their husbands recovery; they nurture anger when they find them drunk; feel tense and worried when their husbands leave the house at any time. Related to the strategies used by the alcoholic’s wives: search for self-orientation on how to cope with their husband’s alcoholism; conversations with other people about the problem and the help needed to make their husbands start an alcoholism treatment. It’s also important to note that the results were related to the studies based on the data collected for this specific group. Therefore we recognize the need of other researches as to get to know alcoholic’s wives better, becoming possible to offer them proper conditions based on the stress control strategies. / Este trabalho teve por objetivo estudar o stress e a qualidade de vida em esposas de alcoolistas. O stress pode ser definido como uma reação do organismo, com implicações físicas e/ou psicológicas que ocorrem quando a pessoa se confronta com uma situação que a amedronta, irrita, excita ou que ocasiona intensa felicidade (LIPP, 1996). O relacionar-se com um dependente alcoólico, segundo Edwards (1999), tende a provocar stress, principalmente graças à imprevisibilidade do seu comportamento. Dessa forma, a esposa, em particular, não sabe o que a espera ao se deparar com o cônjuge em estado de embriaguez. Diante desse quadro, optamos por realizar um estudo sobre stress e qualidade de vida em esposas de alcoolistas. Nesta pesquisa foram avaliadas 31 esposas, cujos cônjuges estavam em início de tratamento ambulatorial de reabilitação em uma clínica psiquiátrica na cidade de Garanhuns – PE. Utilizamos os seguintes instrumentos: Inventário de Sintomas de Stress para Adultos de Lipp (ISSL); Inventário de Qualidade de Vida (IQV) e roteiro de entrevista. No que se refere aos resultados, 93,54% das esposas apresentaram stress; 67,7% na fase de resistência e 12,9% na fase de exaustão. Para analisarmos o nível de significância em relação à ocorrência de stress na amostra pesquisada, usamos o X² (qui-quadrado). Os resultados encontrados foram considerados significativos para 1 α ao nível de 1%. Esses dados podem indicar o mal que o convívio com o alcoolista acarreta a essas mulheres, interferindo na sua qualidade de vida. A análise das entrevistas identificou que as esposas enfrentam, em seu dia-dia, fontes externas e internas de stress. Dentre os estressores externos, um dos fatores que sobrecarrega a mulher é o fato de que ela geralmente é a responsável por todos os aspectos relacionados à família; ela também não recebe ajuda no manejo com o esposo, além de sofrer agressões verbais. Quanto às internas, encontramos: a esposa não consegue perceber alternativas que possam ajudar na recuperação de seu marido; nutre o sentimento de raiva ao percebê-lo alcoolizado; sente-se tensa e preocupada quando o marido sai de casa. Em relação às estratégias de enfrentamento mais utilizadas pela esposa, destacamos: busca de apoio para si; orientação para lidar com o alcoolismo do marido; conversa com outras pessoas a respeito do problema e incentivo ao marido na procura de algum tipo de tratamento. Vale ressaltar que esses resultados referem-se aos estudos obtidos através dos dados coletados com esse grupo. Reconhecemos a necessidade de mais pesquisas com a finalidade de melhor conhecermos a mulher companheira do alcoolista, oferecendo-lhe um melhor atendimento voltado para as estratégias de controle do stress.

Text includes English and Spanish versions of questionaires and consent forms.

No description available.

The subject of this diploma thesis is media image of the Czech first ladies in the period 1993-2020. The office of the first lady is not official in the Czech Republic, so each lady determines for herself what she will do during the term of office. Czech media monitor the activities of the first ladies and, on the basis of their activities, assign certain roles to them. According to this information, which is presented to the audience, the public forms an opinion about the wives of the presidents. The aim of this thesis is to describe a media image of all Czech first ladies in the years 1993-2020. To obtain their media images, articles from the daily newspapers, from Lidové noviny and Blesk were chosen. To achieve these results, a qualitative content analysis was chosen and complemented by a quantitative content analysis. Due to insufficient resources in the field of research of the first Czech ladies, foreign literature was used in the theoretical part. The final part of this thesis contains answers to research questions, a comparison of differences in coverage of the first ladies in two different types of media and the resulting media images of all Czech first ladies.

Edna O'Brien and Marian Keyes are two sexually candid female writers. They are both from Ireland and their novels have caused many spectacular headlines over the years. These female authors have been greatly acclaimed, but also sharply criticised for their outspoken way of writing. However they have enjoyed huge success and their novels have been read by many people. This essay will focus on two of the many novels written by these Irish authors: The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien and Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes. In the following essay I will focus on Irish women represented in the novels of Keyes and O'Brien, and their relation to men but also to their daughters. In these novels, women are forced into strict gender roles, very different from those of men. Still, even though the older women in the novels are trapped in their roles, they encourage their daughters to develop and grow beyond such roles. I would argue that the novels and also the feminist actions that still occur in Ireland are built upon a long time of subordination for women, and also from the twisted structure in many of the Irish men-women-relationships. I would argue that the rules and roles created in historical Ireland, have formed an inequality between the sexes that still exists.

This dissertation examines how early modern English playwrights employ absence to enrich their representations of the unknown, including witchcraft and the supernatural. Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries magical themes were often dramatized through visual and linguistic excess. Whether this excess was manifested through the use of vibrant costumes, farcical caricatures, or exaggerated dialogue, magic was often synonymous with theatricality. Playwrights such as William Rowley, Ben Jonson, and William Shakespeare, however, challenge stereotypical depictions of magic by contrasting excessive magic with the subtler power of restrained or off-stage magic. Embedded in the fantastical events and elaborate plots of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, absence, whether as an unstaged thing or person or an absent ideology, becomes a crucial element in understanding how playwrights represented and understood occult issues during the early modern period. Further, when gendered feminine, magical absences serve to combat oppressive silences within scripts and provide female subjects with an unimpeded and inherently magical space from which to challenge pre-established patriarchal systems of control. Each chapter in this dissertation, therefore, appraises the magical possibilities that theatrical absences provide to women as a platform from which to develop their narrative voice. Partnered with a complementary discussion of Jonson’s The Masque of Queens and two thematically linked witchcraft cases, my first chapter argues that Mistress Ford uses the complete stage absence of both a witch and a queen in The Merry Wives of Windsor to reform her community and critique her society’s unjust categorization of women. In chapter two, I examine a series of “vanishing acts” in The Birth of Merlin and argue that Rowley’s female characters use their final moments on stage to contextualize their impending absences for audiences as moments of magical defiance rather than defeat in the face of male tyranny. In my final chapter, I look at how magical objects, such as the handkerchief in Shakespeare’s Othello or the belt in Jonson’s The Sad Shepherd resist the absence of their female creators and continue to provide physically absent or dead women with magical agency. By structuring my dissertation on these three specific gradations of absence, I provide a nuanced analysis of the purposes these dramatic omissions serve by focusing on how these shades of absence subtly alter the ways in which we interpret and define early modern magical belief. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)