Public Perceptions,Beliefs and Experiences of Fostering and Adoption: A National Qualitative Study in South Africa

In South Africa, rates of adoption remain low while the number of fostered children continually rises. Little is known about the public perceptions, beliefs and experiences that inform decisions to either foster or adopt in South Africa. This qualitative research explored these issues among a national sample of childless adults, biological parents, kin and non‐kin fostering parents and prospective and successful adopters. Fostering is driven predominantly by access to subsidies but is also informed by socio‐cultural beliefs. Low adoption rates are influenced by an absence of subsidies, poor access to quality adoptive services and a lack of information about adoption.     

Career,Culture, and Compromise: Career Development Experiences of Latinas Working in Higher Education

The purpose of this exploratory ethnographic research project was to investigate the career development experiences of Latinas employed in counseling and faculty positions in higher education. The research reveals strong images of an inhospitable and nonsupportive place to work and suggests that Latina women are inhibited from achieving the same levels of success as men or other women in higher education. Implications for career development practitioners are provided.     

Zambian Women in South Africa: Insights Into Health Experiences of Labia Elongation

Labia minora elongation consists in the manual stretching of the inner lips of the external genitalia. This practice is documented in east and southern Africa. The experiences of African women in the diaspora practicing elongation are not thoroughly understood. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the health harms and benefits associated with this practice of Zambian women who have migrated to Cape Town, South Africa. Twenty women and seventeen men participated in this study. Between December 2013 and May 2014, in-depth interviews and natural group discussions were conducted with the participants. The focus of this article is to report on the emic of the women related to notions of health, hygiene, and well-being. Labial elongation is perceived as a practice involving minor, short-term adverse effects that can be prevented by following some basic hygiene. Overall, personal and social value is placed on this practice because of its reported benefits for the sexual health of men and women, and for women's femininity and self-image. Further research is necessary on how female genital modifications influence Zambians’ sexual preferences to inform the development of culturally appropriate health promotion interventions.     

Development Assistance: disability and education in Southern Africa

This paper discusses development assistance on disability and education in southern Africa. Development assistance for people with disabilities has for a long time been based on the charity and medical models. It has not been perceived in the context of national development. Many development agencies and charitable organisations tend to emphasise their own agenda, which may not necessarily be that of the local people with disabilities. As a result, the anticipated impact of development assistance in the region for people with disabilities has not been realised. This paper challenges this position and advocates for a more participatory approach by the locals. Using Lesotho as an example, the paper shows how development assistance can be made to be more successful through community participation and change of attitudes across all sectors of the community.     

Some Remarks on Culture, Development and Revolution in Africa

Abstract Self-celebrations of capitalism are again the order of the day since the collapse of European bureaucratic socialist states. Attempts at 'normalizing' colonialism after the 'victory' of the US-led coalition in the Gulf war are being made as well. Cultural phenomena are proving crucial for both celebrants of and resisters against the war. Development without consideration of cultural specificities can only be imperialist expansionism. When imposed,'democracy','peace' and even 'revolution' can only be cultural madness. In the face of the threat to cultural diversity, this article tries to sensitize readers to the need to take culture seriously. Cultures are forms of consciousness; they are decisive on whether people condone genocide or oppose it.     

Student Perspectives of Online Discussions: Strengths and Weaknesses

SUMMARY

Limited research exists that examines student perceptions of online discussions in fully online classes. This is a report of initial investigation into undergraduate distance education majors' perspectives of the pedagogical value of online discussions. Over a two semester period (Spring and Fall, 2003), students taking the same online course delivered using Web Course Tools (WebCT) were surveyed regarding opinions of online discussions. The students surveyed were undergraduate students enrolled in a fully online degree program at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Although limitations exist due to small sample size and a non-standardized data collection instrument, findings from this exploratory study offer insight into undergraduate distance education student opinions of the strengths and weaknesses of online discussions as a pedagogical tool.     

Spatial Contestation,Victimisation and Resistance during Xenophobic Violence: The Experiences of Somali Migrants in Post‐Apartheid South Africa

This article discusses how violence between South Africans and Somali migrants plays out in different forms of spatial contestation, victimization and resistance during xenophobic attacks. It analyses Somalis’ entrepreneurial strategies and the implications for access and appropriation of social and economic spaces around Cape Town. The article attempts to connect Somali perceptions of xenophobia and South Africans’ claims of spatial entitlement to issues of spatial control, belonging and social inclusion in South Africa. It argues that by establishing businesses in urban spaces and townships, Somali migrants have managed to establish stronger bonds and a collective identity, which give them better control over these spaces. Although their business tactics have propelled spatial contestations in which they have become easy targets during xenophobic incursions, the clustering of businesses has also created Somali‐dominated localities around Cape Town, which facilitates rapid mobilization to respond to or to resist different forms of crime and violence.     

The Dramaturgical Model of Behavior: Its Strengths and Weaknesses*

By means of the dramaturgical model we freshly illuminate social behavior as role-like “performances” in which persons manage the impressions that others get of them. This impression management involves the concealment of data in a “dramatic” struggle with those others who wish to penetrate one's “mask.” But the chief limitations of the dramaturgical model are that it excites the invalid inferences that offstage “roles” are more like stage actors' roles than they really are, and that the person is nothing but these “roles.” The differences between onstage and offstage behavior are kept in view when the metaphorical concept of “role playing” is re-connected to its source in role playing onstage. Through an analysis of theatre and the concepts of appearance and time we conclude that while we must appear to others in a “role-like” way offstage in order to be ourselves, we are nevertheless involved in world-time offstage in a way that fundamentally distinguishes our “role-playing” from an actor's role playing. We are our “roles”, but not just our “roles.”     

Formative Experiences of Orthodox Jewish Women: Attachment Patterns and Spiritual Development

This qualitative study examines formative spiritual experiences of thirteen Orthodox Jewish women. The author discusses differences between Orthodox-born women and women returnees to Orthodoxy. From an attachment perspective, the data suggests that secure as well as insecure attachment bonds are the primary factors in religious development for these respondents. The author also argues that spiritual development from a Kabbalistic perspective offers a complementary paradigm from which to evaluate the respondents’ religious development. Finally, recommendations for clinical practice with Orthodox women are discussed.

城市化的国际经验与四川城市化发展研究

城市化,是人类现代化的标志.在国家和地区的经济发展中,城市化是引起产业结构、就业结构、消费方式等重大变化的一个由乡村经济向城市经济转变的过程和机制.     

The Cartagena Protocol: Implications for Regional Trade and Technology Development in Africa

The majority of African countries have ratified or acceded to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and many have received support through the Global Environment Facility and the UN Environment Programme for development of their National Biosafety Frameworks. This article examines the extent to which these frameworks are aligned with the goals of the Regional Economic and Regional Research Communities of which they are members. Many national approaches lack alignment with regional trade, economic, science and technology policies. The strict application of the precautionary principle and the imposition of costly administrative hurdles are likely to hinder intra‐regional trade and technology development.