Male circumcision evokes emotive responses with those who either support or oppose the practice. It is an area of human interaction that has remained outside the public arena as a result of cultural taboos, but has increasingly come under public scrutiny due to the deaths of young boys as a result of unhygienic circumcision. Some taboos raise the spectre of death over anybody who dares to divulge the secrets of the ritual to outsiders. Male circumcision has resulted in public debates due to death and fatalities of some boys who undergo the ritual, but not much has been done to investigate the impact that male circumcision has on the social lives of the circumcised living in urban areas. This study investigates some of the reasons for the practice of traditional male initiation rituals by amaXhosa males who reside in Clermont-KwaDabeka (Durban); and explores, analyses and assesses the social meaning and effects of male circumcision. An analysis is offered about some of the gendered constructions related to sexual pleasure as an effect of male circumcision as perceived by Xhosa men and women living in Clermont-KwaDabeka. The processes involved in circumcision rites for the circumciser and the circumcised are examined in order to establish the context for the study and to extrapolate the processes in order to reflect on the meaning of the ritual. The study highlights the ongoing debate as to whether circumcision may be practiced as a health intervention strategy, and suggests that male circumcision has no impact on the sexual pleasure experienced by women, and concludes that female orgasm (s) is a problematic issue that needs further investigation. The study also conceives male circumcision as a cultural practice, and as a social construction that is gendered. The study recommends further interrogation of the issues pertaining to culture, sex, sexuality, gender, masculinities and male circumcision in order that this will serve as an intervention towards socialization of boys, and help them in making informed decisions before undergoing initiation. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Education)) - Rhodes University, 2007. / A half-thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Environmental Education)

In this study I have tried to show what Tyamzashe has achieved without the solid musical training any composer worthy of the name should undergo. I have also tried to show the forming of his own musical style under the impact of outside influences. This study is therefore not to teach one anything new, but simply to communicate the results of three years research. In it I have attempted to set the scene in which Tyamzashe's life unfolded itself under the influences of people and circumstances. In doing so I have tried to bear in mind the main theme - Tyamzashe himself. My problem was not so much what to include but what to leave out; thus I have not provided the scene with a detailed background. The section on missionary contact is necessary for an understanding of the great changes brought about by culture contact, as well as for putting Tyamzashe into his historical background. I have also stressed Lovedale because musical change as exemplified in the music of early Bantu converts was centralized there. Finally, the thesis of this study is: despite the changes introduced into Bantu music by culture contact, one perceives, in the works of Tyamzashe, the beginnings of a new pattern of integration. p. 2-3.

This article analyzes the oral poetry, izibongo, produced by Xhosa oral poet Bongani Sitole (both in book and technological form). It will trace this poetry from the moment it was orally produced, through to the technologizing and publication of this poetry in book form and on a website. The initial part of this article looks at the life and work of the poet. A contextual analysis of selected poetry is provided. The latter part of the article concentrates on issues related to technology and its relationship to the oral and written word. The term ‘technauriture’ has been coined in order to refer to this process. The contribution of eLearning4Africa (www.elearning4africa.com) to the digitization process of Sitole’s poetry is acknowledged.

Social change in South Africa brings to light the multiplicity of world-views operating in our society, which individuals encountering a variety of social contexts are faced with. This raises questions about the choices black South Africans face in response to influences from Western and traditional African culture. This issue was approached through examining helpseeking choices made between different health care sectors that stem from different world-views. This would indicate whether individuals are drawing on a variety of belief systems. The sources of their beliefs are put into context by looking at the communities of practice that influence their local knowledge. Help-seeking is also influenced by the identities the individual may ascribe to, which are derived from the multiple positions held by them in different social contexts. In this research the use of health-care sectors by four black women attending psychotherapy is examined. Their use of these sectors reflects a potential multiplicity of world views. Semistructured interviews were conducted, focusing on participants' prior experience of different help options, and their current perceptions of traditional African healing and psychology. The texts were analysed using a qualitative hermeneutic method, the reading guide. Data was looked at through three main themes, the individual's relationship to the health care sectors, their knowledge of different world views, and the identities they adopted which may be influential in their choice of a healer. It was found that in two participants there was some movement away from traditional beliefs, with one rejecting the traditional healers who did not help her, once she has discovered therapy, and another identifying herself completely with Western medicine. In contrast, one participant illustrated a rediscovery of traditional healing, whilst still attending psychotherapy. This suggests that shifts in knowledge are not necessarily away from traditional beliefs. It was also found that the two participants who had experienced a broader variety of social contexts and identified with multiple belief systems, tended to use a variety of Western and traditional healing sources and selected the healing option they felt was most appropriate to a particular problem. It is argued therefore that having a variety of knowledge and beliefs places individuals in a more powerful position to determine their choice of action than those with a limited range of knowledge.

International research highlights conflicting results regarding factors that could play a role in the development of occupational aspirations and occupational gender stereotyping of primary school children. Some of the variables that have been identified are age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and societal influences. There has been some research emphasis on the career development of South Africans. However, studies that have been conducted have focused mainly on adolescents and adults. Furthermore, the majority of this research has focused on programme intervention and not on acquiring baseline information. There has been no research to date on the career development of South African Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children. The lack of career research on South African Xhosa-speaking children indicates the need for the present research. This study aims to describe and compare the occupational aspirations and occupational gender stereotyping (in terms of Holland’s occupational and status level typology) of male and female Xhosa-speaking senior primary school learners. The study also describes the possible gender stereotypical perceptions preadolescent children hold regarding certain occupations. A non-probability sample of 274 Xhosa-speaking children between the ages of 10 and 14 years was drawn from two primary schools in townships in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. An exploratory and descriptive research framework was utilised, with descriptive statistical procedures employed to summarise and report the data in a meaningful manner. The major findings of the present study indicate that Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children’s favourite occupational aspirations fit into Holland’s Investigative typology and high status level. Some gender differences were evident, with slightly more boys aspiring to Investigative occupations than girls. Both boys and girls demonstrated gender stereotypical perceptions regarding xiii which occupations were suitable for both genders, with boys more willing to accept girls into traditional male occupations than girls willing to accept boys into traditional female occupations. The results of the present study emphasise the need for further exploration of the occupational aspirations and occupational ge nder stereotyping of Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children. Future research needs to include other cultural and age groups in order to explore how personal and situational variables may differentially influence children’s occupational aspirations and occupational gender stereotyping.

In order to investigate certain anomalies evident in the literature, the performances of three Xhosa groups (rural dwellers, urban dwellers, and undergraduates) of varying degrees of acculturation and a White undergraduate group, each group consisting of 30 subjects, were measured on tests of mode of field approach and susceptibility to the Müller- Lyer and Ponzo illusions. In addition, the effect of the introduction of a mental set, which facilitated the perception of perspective in the Ponzo figure, on susceptibility to the illusion was ascertained. Mode of field approach was measured by a portable version of the Rod-and-Frame Test. Susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer illusion was measured by a conventional movable- slide, subject-adjustable device, while a piece of apparatus which also worked on the movable slide principle and was subject-adjustable was developed to measure susceptibility to the Ponzo illusion. The set to facilitate the perception of perspective in the Ponzo figure was introduced by having subjects match the length of Ponzo contrast lines embodied in a photograph and a line-drawing of a bridge, both of these pictures having strong perspective cues. The subjects were required to perform the tasks in prescribed order. Standardised English or Xhosa instructions were ensured by the use of "programmed" worksheets for each task. Prior to each experimental task, the more unacculturated subjects performed comprehension checks to ensure that they understood the concepts of equal length and verticality. The results of the study suggested that: (i) When groups of differing acculturation levels are tested, there may be a pronounced negative association of field dependence with susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer and Ponzo illusions. In general, the more unacculturated the subject, the more field dependent and the less susceptible to illusions he was. However, there was no evidence which either strongly supported or refuted the relationship between these attributes at the intra-group level. (ii) There is no intra- group association between susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer and to the Ponzo illusions. This would indicate that they are not necessarily generated by similar inference habits or by similar contour properties. (iii) The introduction of a "perspective set" increases susceptibility to the Ponzo illusion only among acculturated subjects, who have well-developed pictorial depth perception skills and who habitually infer depth in inverted - V configurations. (iv) There is a significant association between acculturation and field independence. The unacculturated subjects, presumably because they lack the skills of visual analysis which are engendered by Western culture, were more field dependent than the acculturated subjects. (v) Provided that their degrees of acculturation are more-or-less equivalent, as were those of the two undergraduate groups, there are no differences in mode of field approach or susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer and Ponzo illusion among Xhosa and White subjects. Summary, p. 112.