Self-efficacy enhanced in a cross-cultural context through an initiative in under-resourced schools in KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

This paper discusses the Khanyisa Programme, an initiative in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where learners from under-resourced schools are supported by teachers and high achievers in Grade 11 and 12 from a previously advantaged state school under apartheid. A qualitative, evaluative study was undertaken to identify key elements in the ongoing success of the programme and collect participant suggestions for improvement. The findings, discussed within the framework of self-efficacy theory, identified enormous gains by Khanyisa learners, leading to vastly improved career prospects.     

Land-use and environmental pressures resulting from current and future bioenergy crop expansion: A review

Recent energy and climate policies, particularly in the developed world, have increased demand for bioenergy² as an alternative, which has led to both direct and indirect land-use changes and an array of environmental and socio-economic concerns. A comprehensive understanding of the land-use dynamics of bioenergy crop production is essential for the development of sustainable bioenergy and land-use policies. In this paper, we review the patterns and dynamics of land-use change associated with bioenergy crops (hereafter referred to as ’bioenergy-driven land-use change’). The review focuses on four regions as the most prominent locations in which these patterns and changes occur: Brazil; Indonesia and Malaysia; the United States of America (U.S.A.); and the European Union (EU). The review confirms that bioenergy-driven land-use change has affected and will impact most severely on the ’land- and resource-abundant’ developing regions, such as Brazil, where economic development takes priority over sustainable land-use policies, and the enforcement capability is limited. Opportunities for more effective policy are available through the development of international climate change policy (e.g. REDD under the UNFCCC), and certification criteria for sustainable bioenergy products (e.g. EU RED). However, bioenergy produced from no and/or less land-using feedstocks (e.g. wastes and residues), and their associated technologies must be given higher priority to minimise bioenergy-driven land-use change and its negative impacts.     

Impasses of Divorce: Neither Together Nor Apart

This paper looks at one type of intervention that has made it possible to help separating couples, given to irrationality and engaged in protracting disputes over their children, become more rational parents, capable of using mediation as a method of dispute resolution. The central theoretical formulation in this intervention is the divorce transition impasse. The process involved in overcoming the impasse combines a therapeutic and counselling effort with the mediation. One counsellor/mediator coordinates both phases of the process, by first assessing the impasse and then shifting the factors that created it and moving on to negotiation and implementation of the agreement made. A case seen by the author is presented to illustrate the phases of intervention and the strategies used in each phase. The possibility is raised that this type of intervention offered by specialised counsellor/mediators might prove to the Family Court's advantage in dealing with potentially complex cases, such as access enforcement cases and some ex-nuptial children disputes.     

Phases of the Adoption of Innovation in Organizations: Effects of Environment,Organization and Top Managers1

Multidimensional empirical examinations of the adoption of innovations in organizations, and the influence of factors within each dimension on the phases of adoption, are scarce. This study examines the effects of environmental, organizational and top managers' characteristics on the initiation, adoption decision and implementation of innovation. Using a sample of approximately 1200 public organizations in the United States, we found that while each dimension accounts for unique variance in the adoption of innovation, organizational characteristics and top managers' attitudes toward innovation have a stronger influence than environmental and top managers' demographic characteristics. We also found no difference in the direction of effects of any antecedent, but did find differences in the significance of effects of several antecedents, on the phases of innovation adoption. We discuss the implications of these findings and suggest ideas for future research.     

Who is Mum for the Children?. Custody Disputes between Teenage Mothers and Their Mothers

Defended custodies are usually seen as the hardest type of family dispute for which the conciliation method of dispute resolution is available. Family mediators assess custody disputes of ex-nuptial children among de facto couples, as the least likely to have a successful outcome. Custody disputes about ex-nuptial children between mothers and their mothers constitute a particular subgroup of these and may be viewed as symptomatic of an adolescent/parental dispute rather than an actual custody dispute. This paper describes the psychosocial correlates of teenage mothers and the context in which the pregnancies develop, as well as the demographic and social characteristics of a minority of young mothers who engaged in custody disputes with their own mothers. Stierlin's conceptual framework is presented as a way of considering the dynamics of these families. The writer, based on her experiences with this subgroup of mothers, outlines the point at which conciliation might be appropriately offered, describes the process of mediation and its stages and suggests a suitable format. Necessary guidelines for the conduct of the sessions, techniques for engaging these families, pitfalls and potential problems are highlighted and examples from actual cases given.     

Informal shelter providers: Low income households sheltering the homeless

Despite the important role they play in preventing homelessness, those who shelter people who can not afford housing of their own have been neglected by researchers. This study examines the characteristics of these low income informal shelter providers. While informal shelter providers were similar to a comparison group of low income households that did not shelter others, there were also significant differences between the two groups. Informal shelter providers were more much more likely to live in single family dwellings, they were more likely to be long-term residents of the community, they were more likely to have experienced homelessness themselves, and they devoted a disproportionate share of their incomes to housing.