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Practitioners' discourse of juvenile delinquency at a child and youth care centre in the Western Cape from 1990 to 2020
Get PDFThis paper examines the evolving discourse of juvenile delinquency among practitioners who documented their observations and interactions with juveniles from a Western Cape Child and Youth Care Centre. It employs the Foucauldian discourse analysis approach when analysing the content of thirty learner casefiles from 1990 to 2020. The discourses are analysed in terms of shifts in power over the institutional care of the children brought on by the new democratic government, childcare and justice policies, and the coinciding growth of the restorative approach to juvenile justice. The discourse themes examined include how practitioners consistently conceptualised the juvenile and their delinquency across the thirty years. This was seen in terms of the juvenile's medical health, their ‘criminality', substance use, gang involvement, and tendency to abscond. The juveniles' history of alternative care placements was also frequently documented. Practices eclipsed by the democratic government and restorative justice movement include punitive forms of punishment at the facility and the need for documentation of the child's race. However, only after the enactment of the Children's Act no.38 of 2005, as amended (2010), did a restorative approach to juvenile care, outside of education and vocational training, take significant precedence
Occupation and Resilience: An Interdisciplinary Critical Interpretive Synthesis
Get PDFThis research presents an interdisciplinary critical interpretive synthesis examining the constructs of occupation and resilience and how they are related. The construct of resilience, which is concerned with how people respond to adversity, has the potential to guide the development of more socially transformative praxis in both occupational therapy and occupational science. As theory and theorisation are the foundation of praxis, for resilience to be useful in the development of socially transformative praxis the theoretical relationship between resilience and occupation needs to be clarified. Aim: The aim of this research was to critically explore and synthesise theoretical relationships between the construct of occupation and socio-ecological understandings of resilience. Methodology: Given that resilience has been studied across many disciplines, and, that the study of occupation requires interdisciplinarity, this research was positioned within an interdisciplinary paradigm. The interpretive review methodology of critical interpretive synthesis was chosen as it is consistent with an interdisciplinary paradigm, adopts a critically reflexive stance, and can be used for the examination, synthesis, and generation of theory. Occupation and resilience were first examined as separate constructs before theory on the relationship between occupation and resilience was developed. Through a hermeneutic and iterative process, a total of 131 papers were included in the review. Sixty-three of these papers were on occupation and 68 on resilience. Patterns of meaning including key concepts, relationships between concepts and critiques of current theory were analysed through a process of thematic analysis, data abstraction and memo writing. Insights from this process and interviews with subject matter experts formed the basis of theorisation about the relationship between occupation and resilience. Findings: Occupation and resilience are best understood as overlapping constructs that describe everyday processes. Occupation describes what people do as the point of intersection between people, space, and time. As a concept, occupation can either be used as a noun to refer to specific things people do, or as a verb to refer to process of being occupied. Resilience is an overarching concept that includes understandings of available capacity, divergent processes and what people consider to be positive outcomes. Moreover, resilience can be understood as a pattern of occupational engagement that unfolds over time. As occupation is the mechanism for resilience, understanding occupation is key to understanding resilience. Conclusion: Understanding the relationship between occupation and resilience creates unique opportunities for the development of socially transformative praxis, not only within occupational therapy and occupational science, but throughout resilience studie
"Informalisation of employment and career trajectories in the gig economy: evidence from ehailing drivers Cape Town"
Get PDFProblem Statement: The rate of technological development, ehailing adoption, work fairness, and industry performance within the gig-economy are well-studied globally. However, the South African context remains underexplored. Research on career trajectories and informality in this sector has been limited by insufficient data and the absence of robust frameworks. Research Objective: The main aim of this research is to investigate the impact of the gig economy on informalisation of employment and individual career trajectories of gig workers, by assessing the degree of formality in ehailing, the career expectations and planning of ehailing drivers. To this end, a post-positivist research philosophy was adopted. Research Design: The study collected data using semi-structured interviews. The sample for the study was constituted of 30 ehailing drivers from Cape Town. The study employed an exploratory approach which enables the researcher to probe for more information based on initial responses from the participants and a thematic approach for data analysis. The study adopted the Spectrum of Informality (SOI) and the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) frameworks to guide the research. The SCCT framework was customized to focus on ehailing-specific and related factors termed job specific determinants of career choices. Findings: The study findings depict the ehailing driver's job as a more informal to semi-formal role on SOI. Wage determination, compliance and legal benefits mapped as Informal on the SOI. While contracts, income stability, hours of work and supervision plotted as Semi-Formal on the SOI. The study found that most drivers initially planned to continue in their historical careers and expected consistent growth over time, while some maintained ehailing as a part-time role. The study found that joining ehailing significantly changed most drivers' career progression, with others considering it a complete career change. However, when investigating satisfaction, this study found that drivers are not satisfied with the support received from ehailing companies, their current incomes and other factors. Research Contribution: The study was situated at the intersection of labour economics and information systems research around the gig economy. This study contributes to literature on ehailing studies and career trajectories of gig workers. In addition, the aspect of informality and the mapping of the ehailing driver's role is a key contribution that could aid policy making. The updating of the SCCT model and its application to ehailing careers also created a good opportunity for further research in this area
Exploration of supervision and self-care from the perspectives of palliative care social workers in South Africa
Get PDFThis study explored supervision and self-care from the perspectives of palliative care social workers in South Africa. The study applied a qualitative research design to gather, analyse and present data. The sample comprised of 25 palliative care social workers from private and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) in South Africa. A non-probability and purposive sampling method was applied as a sampling strategy. A semi-structured interview schedule guide was developed in advance and used as a tool for data collection through in-depth, faceto-face and online interviews with each research participant. The interviews were guided by the overall aim and objectives of the study, which was to explore supervision and self-care from the perspectives of social workers working in palliative care. The study found that supervision and self-care are crucial to palliative care social workers in South Africa. As such, employing organisations need to lead in providing supervision while creating work cultures that support social workers in undertaking different self-care strategies. The study also found that adequately trained and competent social work supervisors should be appointed to supervisory roles, while time and resources should be set aside for self-care activities. When supervision and self-care are supported by top management, they are well received by supervisees who feel more involved, and thus, they prioritise these activities. The study also identified challenges that hinder effective supervision and self-care in palliative care. The study's primary recommendation for supervision is that organisations that employ social workers should provide adequate time and resources and appoint adequately trained and qualified supervisors in palliative care. With regards to self-care, the primary recommendation was that organisations must incorporate self-care activities in the day-to-day work of social workers as well as make time and resources available for various self-care strategies
Identification of challenges affecting construction project management practice within the South African Public Sector? A case of Gauteng
Get PDFPurpose - The construction sector plays a vital role to the South African economy and is amongst the key drivers to economic growth. However, several key challenges in the practice of construction project management have been recognised as affecting the projects delivery success within the sector. This study identifies the key challenges affecting the construction project management practice within the public sector, determine the impact of these key challenges on the implementation as well as recommend the measures for enhancing the implementation process. Methodology - A comprehensive literature review on construction project management key challenges faced by developing countries within the construction sector abroad and South Africa, was conducted. The study employed qualitative research methodology to obtain primary data, through a questionnaire sent out to construction project management practitioners based in Gauteng and data extracted from the questionnaires guided the questions for the semi-structured one-on-one interviews conducted to confirm, complement or disconfirm perspectives obtained from questionnaires and secondary data information in relation to securing data saturation. Inductive content analysis was used to analyze all data collected, with the Atlas.tiTM latest version used as a qualitative data analysis software programme. Findings - This study not only validated but also identified the top eight key challenges affecting construction project management practice which the practitioners within public sector in South Africa face. Further, the study demonstrated the impact of key challenges to implementing project management practice. From the secondary data review, the study highlighted the valuable lessons on construction project management practices from developing countries which include Malaysia and Brazil, that can enhance construction project management within the public sector in South Africa. Lastly, the study recommended measures that can be applied to improve project management practices. Value - the research represents one of the few attempts to contribute to the subject of key challenges faced by the construction project management practitioners within public sector in South Africa and how they should be better managed to enhance successful projects delivery. Keywords: Construction Project Management; Public Sector; Developing Countrie
Examining the role of the legislature and judiciary in the context of Traditional and Religious Personal and Family Systems in South Africa
Get PDFThis paper addresses the role the legislature and the judiciary play in protecting the rights to culture and freedom of religion in the context of traditional and personal law systems. The argument is that they have not. The paper first focuses on the historical context in which the right to culture and freedom of religion arose. The majority African, coloured, and Indian populations were denied these rights which impaired their livelihood and dignity. Their most intimate relationships were not recognised as customary and religious marriages were declared ‘immoral' due to the potential for polygyny in these marriages. However, with the advent of the Constitution, the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998(‘RCMA'), the Reform of Customary Law of Succession and Regulation of Related Matters Act 11 of 2009 (‘RCLSA') were enacted to recognise and regulate African customary law. However, these Acts do not provide sufficient protection for the right to culture as first, the RCLSA fails to preserve African concepts that underline customary rules of succession and has instead imported common law notions of succession. Secondly, section 3(1)(b) of the RCMA has created many problems for the judiciary to ascertain and apply the requirements of a customary marriage. The judiciary has taken an inconsistent approach in cases pertaining to the requirements of a customary marriage, namely the payment of lobolo and the ‘handing over' of the bride. This inconsistent approach, coupled with the judiciary's failure to develop African customary law has mainly affected women. Their marriages were declared invalid due to the judiciary's inconsistency, resulting in their inability to seek relief through legislation such as the Intestate Succession Act 81 of 1987. Thus, the failure of the legislature and judiciary to apply and enforce living customary law has resulted in insufficient protection being afforded to individuals enforcing their culture. The legislature and judiciary have also failed to provide sufficient protection for the right to freedom of religion and women's rights. The legislature has failed to enact legislation that recognises and regulates Muslim marriages. The judiciary has provided some relief to vulnerable Muslim women by extending legislation to include them as spouses and eventually providing common law recognition to Muslim marriages in Women's Legal Centre Trust v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others [2022] ZACC 23. However, this is not sufficient protection as there is no regulation of Muslim marriages which allows for the maintenance of gender-discriminatory practices. This affects women in these marriages as ulamā bodies often adopt traditional and conservative interpretations of Islamic law such as arbitrarily issuing talaq certificates without consulting the wife. The failure of the legislature to enact legislation that recognises and regulates Muslim marriages violates South Africa's international and regional obligations to ensure equal rights between spouses. Thus, the legislature and the judiciary have failed to provide sufficient protection for the right to culture and freedom of religion in the context of traditional and religious personal law systems
Mechanical characterisation of float and laminated glass
Get PDFIn recent years, glass has experienced growth in its application within engineering and architecture, especially for structural applications [1]. It has been used as various components such as balcony walls, staircases, floors, roofs, and fa¸cades. As demand for secure and safe construction continues to grow, there is an increasing interest in the mechanical characterisation of glass, particularly laminated glass (LG) and float glass (FG), which are the most commonly used types in various applications. Despite its growth, the understanding of the structural behaviour of glass and mechanical properties is still not as advanced as that of other construction materials like concrete, steel, and wood [2]. During production, glass undergoes several processes, including melting of raw materials, annealing, cutting, and transportation. These processes introduce micro-flaws on the edges and surfaces of the glass. Also, the exposure of glass to mechanical stress, temperature fluctuations, impacts, or improper handling and installation further contributes to the formation of these micro-flaws [3, 4]. The quantity of these micro-flaws often depends on the geometry of the glass and plays an essential role in evaluating glass failure stress, which ultimately affects its structural integrity and safety. The fracture strength of glass materials is highly sensitive to micro-flaws, which act as stress concentrators and initiate cracks [5]. For a given flaw density, as the volume increases, the number of flaws, and, in particular, the number of flaws of critical length, increases [6]. This gives rise to the size effect, where the fracture strength of the specimen will decrease as the size of the specimen increases [7]. The study is set to determine the influence of the size of the loading span on the fracture strength of FG and LG when subjected to the four-point bend test (FPBT) and the ring-on-ring (ROR) test. This will aid in developing guidelines that account for size effects in structural design, ensuring safer and more reliable use of glass materials in engineering and architectural applications. The FPBT setup strictly adhered to ASTM C158-02 guidelines, while the ROR test followed ASTM C1499-19 standards. The tests reveal that both FG and LG demonstrate elastic behaviour with no plastic deformation, and mainly fail through brittle fracture. In both the FPBT and ROR tests, it is observed that the fracture strength of FG and LG is higher with smaller loading spans compared to larger loading spans. Additionally, the ROR results show more variability than the FPBT results. The study reveals that the Weibull distribution is suitable for describing the fracture strength of glass materials under stress. Moreover, the experimental fracture strengths were calculated analytically and confirmed using finite element analysis (FEA). The study provides important information about the performance and reliability of both FG and LG in real-world applications, especially in construction and automotive industries where durability and safety are paramount
Coping and psychological well-being: Investigating the relations between specific coping strategies, anxiety, and depression among adolescents from Etwatwa, Daveyton
Get PDFCoping strategies are significant in the prevention and development of mental problems in children and adolescents. Specific coping strategies within broad coping categories may be associated with symptoms of psychopathology differently. Yet, we lack comprehensive data on these associations in South Africa. The present cross-sectional study investigates specific coping strategies and their association with symptoms of anxiety and depression among 415 Etwatwa adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 years. A quantitative, correlational research design was adopted, and data was collected in the form of self-report questionnaires. Female adolescents reported significantly more symptoms of anxiety and depression than male adolescents (p < .001). The only statistically significant gender difference in coping was that female adolescents used more behavioural disengagement (p = .001) than male adolescents. Using substances, behavioural disengagement and self-blame predicted more symptoms of both anxiety and depression among adolescents. Denial was associated with more symptoms of anxiety while venting was associated with more symptoms of depression. When the data set was split by gender, behavioural disengagement predicted anxiety in both female and male adolescents. Self-blame predicted both anxiety and depression in female adolescents and only anxiety in male adolescents. Venting predicted depression in female adolescents but not in male adolescents. While further research is recommended to determine the direction of effects, the findings of this study suggest that targeting the use of these strategies may help to prevent emotional distress among adolescents
Algebraic aspects of propositional logic
Get PDFIn this dissertation, we seek to examine the connection between abstract algebra and propositional logic. We start by considering the category Bool of Boolean algebras, the algebraic counterpart of classical propositional logic. We provide an algebraic definition of theories and models of classical logic and provide algebraic algorithms to determine whether a chosen formula is a theorem of a given theory of classical logic. In order to generalize this approach, we then describe varieties of universal algebra and some of their properties. Using this framework, we show in a general setting how a formal theory of propositional logic induces a variety of universal algebra in which logical connectives become algebraic operations and logical formulae are considered equal when they are logically equivalent. We then discuss algebraic varieties corresponding to various non-classical propositional logics. In particular, we consider the variety of Heyting algebras Heyt which corresponds to intuitionistic logic, and certain subvarieties of Heyt which correspond to intermediate logics. We then describe several algebraic varieties which correspond to theories of normal modal logic. Moreover, by considering free algebras and completeness in Heyt, we establish that we are unable to use the same methods used in Bool to construct algorithms to determine theorems of intuitionistic logic. Lastly, we construct an adjunction between Heyt and the category of topological Boolean algebras, and through this show that we again cannot construct similar algebraic algorithms to determine theorems in the modal logic S4
An exploration of risks and resources related to parental burnout among parents of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and behaviours that challenge in Atlantis, Western Cape, South Africa
Get PDFIntroduction: Parental burnout, an emerging phenomenon, may be experienced when there is a persistent imbalance between demands and resources in a parents' role. Parental burnout includes an overwhelming exhaustion related to parental duties, emotional distance from your child and the feeling of loss of accomplishment of your parenting role (Mikolajczak & Roskam, 2018). Against the backdrop of South Africa's history and remaining socio-economic challenges, it is likely for parents of persons with IDD and CB to develop parental burnout, considering the high parental stress that they endure. I conducted a scoping review using the Joanna Briggs Institute PRISMA-Scoping review guidelines to provide an overview of existing literature on risks and resources that may influence the development of parental burnout in parents of children, adolescents and adults with IDD and behaviours that challenge. The scoping review yielded five peer reviewed papers from high income countries. Papers mainly focused on (1) informal and formal support structures as protectors against parental burnout; (2) co-parenting and in addition to the balance between risks and resource elements, other elements that arose as influential on parental burnout, were (1) the characteristics of the child; (2) parental hypervigilance; (3) COVID19 stressors; and (4) religion as a coping mechanism. Overall, the findings of the scoping review suggested that parental burnout in this cohort is under researched both internationally and in South Africa, informing the purpose for my study. Study Aim: The study aimed to explore the stressors and resources among parents of adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and co-occurring behaviours that challenge in Atlantis in the Western Cape, a province of South Africa. Methods: With permission from the research site and approval from the university's human research ethics committee, applying an exploratory phenomenological approach, I conducted nine semi-structured interviews to saturation. Research participants were not all parents but confirmed primary caregivers of adults with IDD and CB. The participants, all residents from Atlantis, were homogenous in their race as they were all people of colour. They were diverse in gender as both males and females were included and ages ranged between 38 and 72. Findings: I used Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory' and the ‘balance between risks and resources theoretical framework' (Mikolajczak & Roskam, 2018) to analyse the gathered data, applying thematic analysis principles. On micro level, the following themes were identified: (1) coming to grips with a diagnosis; (2) managing behaviours that are challenging; (3) parental personality; (4) emotional intelligence; (5) parental self-compassion and perfectionism; (6) gender; and (7) high parental chores and duties as opposed to time for leisure were identified. These are factors mediating parental burnout on an individual level. On meso level, the following themes were identified: (1) co- parenting; (2) the impact of siblings; and (3) the relationship between day care facilities and families. The relationships between these systems and how they influence parental burnout are considered. On macro level, (1) religious views; and (2) societal inclusivity was identified contributing factors. On exo level, (1) access to social grants; (2) access to education; (3) access to health care services and (4) access to therapeutic services were identified. Lastly, the chrono level considered how changes over time may mediate or expedite the development of parental burnout. Conclusion: The scoping review and semi structured interviews had overlapping themes whilst also sharing unique experiences including: (1) the difficulty in managing wonderous behaviour in an unsafe community, which is a challenge distinctive to the setting of this study; and (2) planning for the future. Research participants in my study were highly focused on having plans in place for their relative for continuity of care when they are no longer able to care for them. Although a few participants reported experiencing some of the signs of parental burnout, the findings suggest that they rely strongly on the protective factors to preserve and act with resiliency in the face of adversity