Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social development'

In 1997 the democratic government of South Africa adopted the White Paper for Social Welfare (Republic of South Africa [RSA], 1997) which committed the country to a developmental approach to social welfare. The implementation of the developmental approach to social services is a shared responsibility of the state, non-governmental organisations and the private sector (Patel, 2015:93). Despite the ongoing studies relating to developmental social welfare service delivery, there is insufficient evidence of the shift made towards a developmental approach by government social workers employed by the Department of Social Development. The goal of the study was to explore social workers? perspectives on the shift towards the developmental approach in social service delivery in the Department of Social Development in the Mopani District, Limpopo. The study employed a qualitative research approach and a case study research design. The sample for the study was selected purposefully and included thirty-two (32) social workers and four (4) supervisors from four sub-districts in the Mopani District. Data was collected through one focus group interview with social workers and one-on-one interviews with supervisors in the four regions respectively. The research findings indicate that social workers have made a partial shift towards a developmental approach in service delivery. The shift is more evident in protection and prevention service delivery than in promoting socio-economic development. The shift is reflected in some strides towards a human rights-based approach; social and economic development; participation; partnerships; and efforts to link micro and macro practice. The findings further point out the barriers that hinder social workers from making significant progress towards the developmental approach. The overall conclusion of this research endeavour is that there is a need in the Department of Social Development for guidelines and capacity building of social workers and supervisors in the developmental approach. The study recommends guidelines to accelerate the progress of implementing the developmental approach in the Mopani District.
Mini Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2016.
Social Work and Criminology
MSW
Unrestricted

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since the advent of independence in 1968, Mauritius’ economic trajectory evolved from the one of a monocrop sugar economy, with the latter noticeably being the backbone of the country’s economy, to one that progressed into being the custodian of a dynamic and sophisticated garment-dominated manufacturing industry. Condemned with the misfortune of not being endowed with natural resources, relative to her mainland African counterparts, Mauritius, nonetheless, was able to break the shackles of limited economic options and one of being the ‘basket-case’ to gradually evolving into being the upper-middle-income country - thus depicting it to be one of the most encouraging economies within the developing world. Indeed it is captivating that the fruits of the island’s prosperous sugar industry went a long way in meeting the island’s diversification agenda. Moreover, the ‘Mauritian miracle’ is glorified by the emergence and sustenance of a comprehensive welfare state which was able to withstand the harshest economic challenges the country ever faced. This thesis seeks to provide a broad historical over-view of the factors which aided the construction of the social democratic regime in Mauritius. It is of the premise that the social consciousness of the post-colonial leadership in Mauritius laid the foundation for the entrenchment of ideals of social justice into the Mauritian polity. Instead of letting market forces operate in their pure form, the state was propelled instead, to take the driver’s seat into the running of the economy so as to ensure the market and labour become partners in a bid to help the state meet its social development ideals. It is no wonder that current day welfare state in Mauritius is the one which is inextricably linked to elections, not just as tool to duck socio-ethnic disharmony.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sedert onafhanklikheidswording in 1968 het Mauritius se ekonomiese ontwikkeling gevorder van die van ’n enkel kommoditeit suiker uitvoerder as die basis van die ekonomie tot een met ’n dinamiese en gesofistikeerde tekstiel vervaardigingingssektor. Verdoem weens ’n tekort aan natuurlike hulpbronne in vergelyking met ander state in Afrika, het Mauritius nogtans daarin geslaag om sy tekortkominge te bowe te kom en geleidelik te ontwikkel tot ’n opper-middel inkomste staat. Suiker uitvoere het inderdaad ’n sleutelrol gespeel in die diversifikasie van die ekonomie. Die sukses van die ‘Mauritius wonderwerk’ is verder stukrag gegee deur die inwerkingstelling en voortbestaan van ’n omvattende welvaart staat wat gehelp het om die ergste ekonomiese uitdagings die hoof te bied. Hierdie tesis poog om ’n breë historiese oorsig te bied van die faktore wat die konstruksie van ’n sosiale demokratiese orde in Mauritius aangehelp het. Daar word gewerk van die premis dat die sosiale bewussyn van die na-koloniale leierskap in Mauritius die grondleggers was vir die vestiging van ideale van sosiale geregtigheid in die staat se politieke kultuur. In plaas van ’n ongebreidelde vrye mark ekonomie het die staat egter ’n sleutel rigtinggewende rol in die ontwikkeling van die ekonomie gespeel en om seker te maak dat die privaatsektor en arbeid vennote word om sleutel sosiale ekonomiese doelwitte te bereik. Dit is dus geen wonder dat die bestaande welvaartstaat in Mauritius nou verweef is met plaaslike verkiesingsverwagtinge nie en nie bloot ’n manier is om sosio-etniese onstabiliteit te verminder nie.

Can the Corporate Social Investment initiatives of small businesses contribute to development? Corporate Social Investment (CSI) and its counterpart Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are the terms used for the external and internal initiatives undertaken by companies to contribute to the upliftment of their stakeholders and communities. This research paper attempts to establish whether the CSI initiatives of small, local (Cape Town) companies have the potential to contribute to this upliftment or development. The literature review conducted on the relevant topic discovered three major arguments surrounding this debate. Firstly there are those authors that believe that CSI / CSR cannot contribute to development; secondly those authors that believe that CSI / CSR can contribute to development; and finally those authors that believe that more research on this topic is required before any such statements can be made. The outcome of the literature will reveal some issues surrounding this argument. They are: motivations, compatibility, implementation, business advantage, business and NGOs and community focus and research and sustainability. Following the establishment of the technical issues the paper will then propose that Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom theory be used to further investigate the development potential of CSI initiatives. Along with the technical suggestions, Sen's five 2 freedoms will be used to analyse whether any potential development successes can be observed from seven case studies. The freedoms are: political freedoms, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees and protective security. Each of these can contribute to development. The case studies are CSI initiatives selected from local small businesses and the required information was extracted by means of an openended qualitative questionnaire. These case studies will be analysed against the freedoms and the discoveries from the literature review. The conclusions drawn show that some potential does exist for CSI initiatives. It also shows that Sen's Development as Freedom can be effectively applied to small scale projects at the micro level.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
Social workers employed by the Department of Social Development in South Africa are tasked with the provision of a broad spectrum of social services and may specialise in fields, such as welfare planning, which involves the capacity building, support and monitoring of welfare organisations. Early childhood development services fall in this category, as these services are monitored by social workers. Social workers employed by the Department of Social Development are the only group tasked with the mandate to capacitate, register partial care facilities and programmes, as well as monitor unregistered and registered facilities, on an on-going basis. Social workers adhere to these mandates amid many challenges. The aim of this study is to develop guidelines for social workers, who render services to Early Childhood Development (partial care) facilities. The objectives of this study are to explore the needs of social workers in the Early Childhood Development field in the Department of Social Development, identify challenges related to effective service delivery, explore the current methods of service delivery, develop guidelines and refined the draft guidelines, through a Delphi study. The Intervention Research design was used in this study, as it best suited the development of a tool; however, it was adapted to use only certain phases that were suitable for implementation for this study. The adaptation involved the use of the first four phases of the Intervention research method, combining of phase 1 and 2 to form a new phase 1 of the modified phases that linked to objectives one and two of the study. Therefore, this study only has three operational phases. A qualitative methodology was employed in this study to achieve the intended outcomes. Data collection occurred through semi-structured and telephonic interviews. Purposive sampling was used to select twenty (20) social workers from the Department of Social Development in the Western Cape and five (5) in the Eastern Cape. These participants engaged with Early Childhood Development facilities and interviews were conducted with them, while five (5) telephonic interviews were conducted with social workers in the Eastern Province. Conclusions from the analysed data were used to develop guidelines for DSD social workers within ECD settings. Two rounds of a Delphi study were employed to refine the proposed guidelines.

This paper explores literature on the effects of communication disorders on the social development of children. The paper discusses such topics as the effects of communication disorders on personality development, the ability to make friends and resolve conflict with peers, and academic success. It also discusses the influences of multiculturalism and bilingualism on the diagnosis of communication disorders and reflects on the importance of awareness of cultural differences in communication style to avoid a misdiagnosis. Research shows that without intervention and treatment communication disorders can have irreversible detrimental effects on a child’s ability to develop effect social-communication, to make friends, and to be successful in academic pursuits. Intervention strategies are discussed, such as group and individual therapy, as well as social skills and communication skills treatment. Effective intervention can help children overcome or avoid many of the negative effects of communication disorders and can allow them to reach their developmental potential and achieve success in many areas of life.

Blogs, one of the latest emerging tools for communication, are gaining widespread popularity and becoming increasingly common. More and more people blog and use blogs as a way to share information about themselves with other participants or viewers. By doing so, they create their so-called 'virtual self. 810g was chosen to be the main theme of this study not only because of its increase in user number but also its uniqueness that differentiates it from other types of online communication. This study explores social identities in blogging communities. It argues that, though the use of Slogs has been studied, emphasis has remained primarily on its types and features, rather than on how it can create social identities. This research investigates how social identity is formed and developed within blogging communities, how people present themselves in virtual communities by using blogs and how the social identity of individual bloggers influences and is being influenced by the blogging community. In addition, this study also investigates how braggers' identities have changed over time. The result shows how individual members present their identities through different roles and how these roles change over time. These issues are explored in selected bragging sites by using participant observation as the main method of data collection, and allowing the researcher to gain rich data. The collected data includes logs based on observations, together with 40 bloggers' interviews. This resulted in an extensive amount of data being gathered, which was analysed, categorised, interpreted, and summarised in relation to the framework of the study. The findings from this interpretive work were used to develop the understanding needed to answer the research questions in the form of confirming, expanding and strengthening the conceptual framework of the study. In addition, analysis reveals that social identities are created in blogging communities while bloggers adopted different types of social roles within online communities, and these have an effect on members as well as on the community in general.

The concept of social capital is generally associated with social and civic participation and with networks of cooperation and solidarity. But other, more abstract, concepts are also associated with social capital, such as social cohesion, trust, reciprocity, and institutional effectiveness. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/12844

Social entrepreneurship as a phenomenon has been growing in the whole world, especially in the last 30 years, and involves entities operating in the third sector as well as for-profits. This phenomenon is of particular interest because it is more and more conceived as an innovative tool to addresses social needs which are not met either by the public nor by the private sector, therefore solving the “market failures”. Thus, social entrepreneurship is considered by some as a revolutionary method to achieve sustainable, self-sufficient and long-term social impact. This way, in the bigger picture, it could be the expression of a new economic mindset: a way to achieve sustainable economic and social development in a new emerging and changing economic paradigm. Despite the fact that the concept has been receiving a lot of attention from several actors in society and scholars as well, there is still no consensus on the definition of the concept, nor a developed theoretical framework to build the future studies on or to help practitioners nowadays. The master thesis will base on the existing literature to try to define the drivers of the phenomenon and the concept of social entrepreneurship, distinguishing it from other kind of activities. Afterwards, focus will be put on the forms of social entrepreneurship, particularly on the social enterprise. The scope of the phenomenon will be described and particular attention will be put on if and how social entrepreneurship impacts local and national economic development.

Thesis (BTech (Surface Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010
This research is inspired by my own personal experience and views on Post Modem family life and the negative effects it can have on a growing individual. I have found Post Modem family life fractured and non-communicative. I then look at my own tactics of how I have personally dealt with the fractured state and how this can benefit children that are at the beginning fazes of their emotional, physical and mental development. Growing up communication and consistency in my family has always been lacking, due to my parents business trips and strange working hours. This made me detached socially as a child and left me to my own devices. My coping mechanism was to illustrate. Whenever I felt disconnected or alone from my family members I illustrated. While illustrating I formed a dialogue between me and the paper and suddenly I did not feel so alone. When reflecting on my life I realized that I do not want other children to resort to these lonely pastimes of placing their imagination on paper. I want to create a range of products where the emphasis is on how family should stick together and the products must form a natural platform for communication between child and parent. I also feel my products must stimulate the imagination which is linked to the right side of the brain that steers social and emotional development. Theorists that I will for my research is Maria Montessori, she was the creator and founder of Montessori Schools and teachings. She focussed on the holistic development of the child. Rudolf Steiner is the creator and founder of the Wahldorf Schule and teachings. He believed in developing children imagination. We live in the Post-Modem era and to solidify that I will look at Jean-Francois Lyotard's theories on Post Modem sociology. Vygotsky is a Child development psychologist who believed that children's social development happens by interacting with their parents. Roger Sperry is a Brain Dominance Theorist that believed that the right side of the brain is connected to social development and to stimulate the right side is by using your imagination.

In South Africa, commitment to switch to the developmental approach with the aim of alleviating poverty and integrating social and economic development is evident in the White Paper for Social Welfare (RSA, Ministry for Social Welfare and Population Development, 1997), the Reconstruction and Development Programme (1994), the Growth Employment and Redistribution strategy (1996), the Policy on Financial Awards to Service Providers (2005) and the Integrated Service Delivery Model (ISDM) (2005). These policy documents attempt to integrate social development goals and economic development within a developmental approach to social welfare. The social development approach to social welfare in the South African context is firmly rooted in a rights-based approach. Its goals include achieving social justice, a minimum standard of living, equitable access and equal opportunity to services and benefits, and a commitment to meeting the needs of all South Africans with a special emphasis on the needs of the most disadvantaged people in the society. The right to dignity for all citizens is the core of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108/1996). This basic human rights value endorses the inherent worth of all human beings, as well as equity without bias based on gender, race or religion. In addition to this, the White Paper for Social Welfare (RSA, Ministry for Social Welfare and Population Development, 1997) states that social welfare services and programmes must be based on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms as articulated in the Constitution of the country. The social developmental approach is relevant as it embraces human rights values and ensures socio-economic development. It is therefore of immense importance for the social work profession to incorporate the new approach into its professional interventions. The research tool was administered to the social work practitioners who are in the employment of the Department of Social Development, Gauteng Province. The respondents confirmed that the developmental approach to welfare was essential and has been adopted, as reflected on the policy documents and frameworks that guide service delivery. Implementation of the developmental approach in practice, however, poses some challenges as the model has not yet been adopted by some practitioners who have to implement policy. The aim of this study was thus to investigate the experiences of social workers regarding the current implementation of a developmental social welfare approach. The objectives of this research study were the following:

• to conceptualise theoretically the social developmental approach within the field of social welfare;
• to explore and describe social workers’ experiences regarding the implementation of the developmental social welfare approach in practice;
• to identify the challenges social workers are experiencing in the implementation of the developmental social welfare approach in practice; and
• to make recommendations, based on the research findings, to enhance the effective implementation of a developmental social welfare approach in social work.
Against this background the study was guided by the following research question:
• What are the experiences of social work practitioners regarding the implementation of a developmental social welfare approach within the Department of Social Development, Gauteng Province?

A qualitative research approach was used to investigate the experiences of social workers regarding the implementation of a social developmental approach. Applied research focuses on problem solving in practice and emphasizes the participation of the people who are experiencing a problem, by involving them in finding the solution to the problem. In this study applied research was applicable to contribute towards solving the problems related to the implementation of the developmental approach in practice. In the context of qualitative research the collective case study design was utilized as the most appropriate case study design, because the researcher wanted to further her understanding of a ‘social issue’ namely the implementation of the social developmental approach to social welfare services. The data collection method entailed focus group discussions. Qualitative data was collected through interviews of group members. The participants were social workers within the Department of Social Development employed in the five regions of Gauteng Province. There was one focus group, consisting of 10 participants, in each region; thus the researcher conducted five focus groups with 50 participants in total. The researcher utilized a combination of stratified and systematic sampling to select the participants for the five focus groups. The process used in data collection for the study entailed initially a pilot study which was used to test the focus group interview schedule among respondents who were not included in the focus group discussions that were held for data collection for the study. Using the Creswell method of data analysis, the data that was collected in the focus group discussions was subsequently analysed, interpreted and finally displayed in the form of themes and subthemes. The goal of the study was definitely achieved as the study determined not only that there is a need for ongoing training and reorientation of social workers toward the implementation of the developmental approach in practice, but also the revelation that there is a need to develop an action plan and clear procedure guidelines on how to implement the approach in practice, at national level. From a qualitative perspective, it is thus recommended that a procedure guideline and a national plan to implement the social developmental approach in practice should be developed in order to enhance the implementation process. AFRIKAANS : In Suid-Afrika is die toewyding om om te skakel na die ontwikkelings-benadering, met die doel om armoede op te hef en die maatskaplike en ekonomiese ontwikkeling te integreer, duidelik te lese in die White Paper for Social Welfare (RSA, Departement van Welsyn en Bevolkingsontwikkeling, 1997), die Reconstruction and Development Programme (1994), die Growth Employment and Redistribution strategy (1996), die Policy on Financial Awards to Service Providers (2005) en die Integrated Service Delivery Model (ISDM) (2005). Hierdie beleidsdokumente poog om maatskaplike doelwitte en ekonomiese ontwikkeling te integreer binne ’n ontwikkelingsbenadering tot maatskaplike welsyn. Binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks is die maatskaplike ontwikkelings-beleid tot maatskaplike welsyn stewig geanker in ’n regte-gebaseerde benadering. Die doelstellings hiervan sluit in die bereiking van maatskaplike geregtigheid, ’n minimum-lewenstandaard, billike toegang en gelyke geleentheid tot dienste en voordele, en ’n verbintenis om in die behoeftes van alle Suid-Afrikaners te voorsien, met besondere klem op die behoeftes van die mees benadeelde mense in die samelewing. Die reg tot waardigheid vir alle burgers is die kern van die Grondwet van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika (Akte 108/1996). Hierdie basiese menseregtewaarde onderskryf die inherente waarde van alle mense, asook gelykheid sonder vooroordeel gegrond op gender, ras of geloof. Daarbenewens stel die White Paper for Social Welfare (RSA, Departement van Welsyn en Bevolkingsontwikkeling, 1997) dat maatskaplike welsynsdienste en –programme gegrond moet wees op respek vir menseregte en fundamentele vryhede, soos uiteengesit in die land se Grondwet. Die maatskaplike ontwikkelings-benadering is relevant omdat dit menseregte omarm en sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling verseker. Dit is daarom van ontsaglike belang vir die beroep maatskaplike werk om hierdie nuwe benadering in sy professionele bemoeienis te inkorporeer. Die navorsingshulpbron is beskikbaar gestel aan die maatskaplike werkers in diens van die Departement Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling, Gauteng Provinsie. Die respondente het bevestig dat die ontwikkelings-benadering tot welsyn noodsaaklik is en dat dit aangeneem is, soos gereflekteer word in die beleidsdokumente en –raamwerke wat dienslewering rig. Die implementering van die ontwikkelings-benadering lewer egter in die praktyk ’n aantal probleme op, aangesien die model nog nie aangeneem is deur sommige praktisyns wat die beleid moet implementeer nie. Die doel van hierdie studie was dus om die ervarings van maatskaplike werkers aangaande die huidige toepassing van ’n ontwikkelings- maatskaplike welsyn-beleid te ondersoek. Die doelwitte van hierdie navorsingstudie was die volgende:

• om die maatskaplike ontwikkelings-benadering teoreties te konseptualiseer binne die veld van maatskaplike welsyn;
• om die ervarings van maatskaplike werkers aangaande die toepassing van die ontwikkelings- maatskaplike welsyn-benadering in die praktyk te verken en te beskryf;
• om die uitdagings te identifiseer wat maatskaplike werkers in die praktyk ervaar met die toepassing van die ontwikkelings- maatskaplike welsyn-benadering; en
• om, gebaseer op die navorsingsbevindings, voorstelle te maak ter verbetering van die doeltreffende implementering van ’n ontwikkelings- maatskaplike welsyn-benadering in maatskaplike werk.
Teen hierdie agtergrond is die studie begelei deur die volgende navorsingsvraag:
• Wat is die ervarings van maatskaplikewerk praktisyns in die toepassing van ’n ontwikkelings- maatskaplike welsyn-benadering binne die Departement Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling, Gauteng Provinsie?

’n Kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering is gebruik om die ervarings van maatskaplike werkers te ondersoek in die toepassing van ’n maatskaplike ontwikkelings-benadering. Toegepaste navorsing fokus op probleemoplossing in die praktyk en beklemtoon die deelname van die mense wat die probleem ervaar deur hulle te betrek by die vind van die oplossing vir die probleem. In hierdie studie was toegepaste navorsing toepaslik om by te dra tot die oplossing van probleme aangaande die toepassing van die ontwikkelings-benadering in die praktyk. Binne die konteks van kwalitatiewe navorsing is die kollektiewe gevallestudie-ontwerp gebruik as die geskikste gevallestudie-ontwerp, omdat die navorser haar begrip van ’n ‘maatskaplike kwessie’ wou uitbrei, naamlik die toepassing van die maatskaplike ontwikkelings-benadering in maatskaplike welsynsdienste. Die data insamelingsmetode het fokusgroepbesprekings behels. Kwalitatiewe data is versamel deur onderhoude met groeplede. Die deelnemers was maatskaplike werkers binne die Departement van Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling, in diens in die vyf streke van Gauteng Provinsie. Daar was een fokusgoep,bestaande uit 10 deelnemers, in elke streek; dus het die navorser vyf fokusgroepe gelei, met ’n totaal van 50 deelnemers. Die navorser het gebruik gemaak van ’n kombinasie van gestratifiseerde en sistematiese steekproef tegnieke ten einde die deelnemers vir die vyf fokusgroepe te selekteer. Die proses wat tydens dataversameling vir die studie gebruik is, het aanvanklik ’n loodsstudie behels. Dit is gebruik om die fokusgroep se onderhoudskedule te toets onder respondente wat nie ingesluit is nie in die fokusgroep-besprekings wat gehou is vir dataversameling vir die studie. Deur gebruik te maak van die Creswell data-analisemetode is die data wat versamel is tydens die fokusgroep-besprekings vervolgens geanaliseer, geïnterpreteer en eindelik voorgestel in die vorm van temas en sub-temas. Die doel van hierdie studie is definitief bereik, aangesien die studie bepaal het dat daar nie slegs ’n behoefte bestaan vir voortgesette opleiding en heroriëntasie van maatskaplike werkers ten opsigte van die toepassing van die ontwikkelings-benadering in praktyk nie, maar ook dat daar ’n behoefte is aan die ontwikkeling van ’n operasionele plan en duidelike prosedure riglyne vir die implementering van die benadering in die praktyk op nasionale vlak. Vanuit ’n kwalitatiewe perspektief word daar dus voorgestel dat ’n prosedure riglyn en nasionale plan ontwikkel word vir die implementering van die maatskaplike ontwikkelingsbenadering in die praktyk, ten einde die implementeringsproses te verbeter.
Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Social Work and Criminology
unrestricted

Esta tesis está formada por dos temas de investigación separados. El primero estudia como las instituciones de aseguración informal influyen sobre el comportamiento de los hogares en las economías rurales. El segundo se trata de como la confianza y la incertidumbre sobre los beneficios de la cooperación afectan a la formación de redes sociales. Los subsidios al fertilizante son fundamentales en los países en desarrollo, donde el uso del fertilizante es bajo con respecto a las cantidades recomendadas por los expertos de agricultura. ¿Cuáles son los factores que impiden a los agricultores de utilizar las cantidades recomendadas de fertilizante? En el primer Capítulo, demuestro la importancia de las instituciones de aseguración informal en bajar el uso de fertilizante en India rural, y analizo como el gobierno puede utilizar los subsidios al fertilizante para contrastar las ineficiencias asociadas a estas instituciones. Estudio un modelo de aseguración informal donde las decisiones de los hogares sobre esfuerzo y fertilizante son privadas. La información privada genera un problema de riesgo moral: la aseguración induce los hogares a disminuir sus esfuerzos. El esfuerzo está relacionado con el uso del fertilizante a través de una relación de complementariedad. Así la aseguración (que induce los hogares a esforzarse menos) disminuye la productividad del fertilizante, resultando en una menor demanda de fertilizante. Un subsidio al fertilizante puede incrementar el bienestar porque, como induce los hogares a comprar más fertilizante, los instiga a esforzarse más, por consecuencia debilitando el problema del riesgo moral. Testeo esta teoría en el contexto de 18 aldeas en los trópicos semi-aridos de India, con datos que vienen de encuestas conducidas entre 2009 y 2014. El efecto de la aseguración sobre el utilizo del fertilizante es grande: moviéndonos de una situación en la que no hay aseguración a una en la que hay aseguración completa, el utilizo del fertilizante baja de cuatro veces en promedio. Además, demuestro que un subsidio que reduciera a la mitad los precios del fertilizante generaría un incremento en el bienestar de un promedio del 51%. Las redes sociales son muy importantes en la determinación de muchos efectos económicos. ¿Qué factores son importantes en la determinación de las relaciones que formamos? En el Capítulo 2, analizo, junto con Juan Camilo Cardenas, Danisz Okulicz, y Tomás Rodríguez-Barraquer, como la confianza afecta a las redes sociales. Medimos la confianza de 72 estudiantes del primer año de carrera antes que tuvieran oportunidades de socializar. Cuatro meses después, obtuvimos información sobre cinco redes sociales entre los estudiantes. Utilizamos muchas preguntas de encuesta y un experimento de la confianza para medir la confianza. Además, obtuvimos información sobre muchas características que podrían tener un rol en las formaciones de redes y estar correlacionadas con la confianza. Encontramos que la confianza no explica la formación de las redes que obtuvimos. En particular, el efecto de la homofília en características socioeconómicas puede ser una orden de magnitud mayor más grande que el efecto de la confianza. En el Capítulo 3, estudio teóricamente como la incertidumbre sobre los beneficios de la cooperación impacta a la formación de coaliciones. Dos agentes pueden cooperan y tienen una creencia común sobre la posibilidad de que el otro le pueda ayudar. Un planeador utilitario puede bajar esta incertidumbre con una señal. La señal puede reducir el bienestar esperado. Además, la relación entre la ganancia de la señal y su ruido puede tener hasta una discontinuidad y ser no-monótona.
This thesis comprises two separate research interests. The first one deals with understanding how risk-sharing arrangements affect household behavior in village economies. The second one refers to how trust and uncertainty about the benefits of cooperation affect network formation. Fertilizer subsidies play a critical role in developing countries, where fertilizer use keeps lagging behind the rates recommend by agricultural experts. Which factors are restricting farmers from using the recommended amounts of fertilizer? In Chapter 1, I show the importance of risk-sharing arrangements in holding down fertilizer use in rural India and analyze how public policy can use fertilizer subsidies to fight the inefficiencies associated with these arrangements. I study a model of risk sharing in which households' choices of effort and fertilizer are private. Private information generates a moral hazard problem: risk sharing induces households to free-ride on each other's efforts. Moreover, effort provision is related to fertilizer use through a relationship of complementarity. Thus, risk sharing (which induces farmers to curtail their effort) decreases the productivity of fertilizer, ultimately leading to fertilizer being under-demanded. A fertilizer subsidy increases welfare because, by inducing farmers to buy more fertilizer, it pushes them to exert more effort, thereby weakening the bite of the moral hazard problem. I test this theory in the context of 18 villages in the Indian semi-arid tropics, with data coming from survey interviews conducted from 2009 to 2014. The effect of risk sharing on fertilizer used and hours worked is large: when going from no sharing to full insurance, average fertilizer used drops by four times and average hours worked drop by more than six times. Moreover, I show that a subsidy that would cut the observed prices of fertilizer in half would generate a consumption-equivalent gain in welfare of 51%. Social networks play a key role in shaping many economic outcomes, such as information transmission, trade in decentralized markets, and social learning. Which factors are important in determining the relationships that end up forming? In Chapter 2, I analyze, together with Juan Camilo Cardenas, Danisz Okulicz, and Tomás Rodríguez-Barraquer, how people's trust affects the social networks they form. We measure trust for 72 members of a cohort of first-year undergraduates before they had a chance to meet and socialize. We measure people's trust using both a standard trust experiment and survey questions. After four months, we elicit five social networks among the students. Moreover, we retrieve and control for a large set of observables, including many characteristics which are likely to play a role in network formation and may be correlated with trust. We find that trust poorly explains the formation of the networks we retrieve. In particular, the effect of homophily in socio-economic background can go so far as being one order of magnitude bigger than the effect of trust. In Chapter 3, I study theoretically how uncertainty about the benefits of cooperation affects coalition formation. Two agents can agree to cooperate while holding a common prior belief about whether the other is a lemon or a peach. Each agent prefers cooperating with a peach to autarky but would stay in autarky rather than cooperating with a lemon. A utilitarian social planner can draw a noisy public signal of whether the agents are lemons before they might agree to cooperate. Drawing a signal can decrease expected welfare. Moreover, the relationship between the welfare gain of drawing a signal and the noise of the signal can have at most one discontinuity and be non-monotonic.

Sustainable Development was conceived as a visionary idea to have society meet the needs of the today while also considering those of future generations. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development was developed to provide an operational planning methodology to move society towards ecological and social sustainability. While abundant scientific research and project work have been completed in the ecological issues area - a significant gap remains regarding Social Sustainability. This research project sought to identify leading Actions of Social Sustainability that might strategically remove the systemic conditions (barriers) to Social Sustainability. Reducing the complexity of Social Sustainability for sustainability practitioners can be helpful for working within Strategic Sustainable Development. Using an assessment tool based on Social Sustainability Actions Criteria, leading Actions of Strategic Sustainable Development emerged from case studies and interviews research with social sustainability practitioners and experts. Although this research process was successful, the study of Social Sustainability Actions also resulted in two aspects of proposed discovery: a means to identify systems barriers within a Social Sustainability Actions Criteria Tool and a model of Core Characteristics of Social Sustainability Actions. Additionally proposed, 3 potential Universal Categories of Social Sustainability Actions.
Actions speak louder than words - It means a lot more if we act on our beliefs than if we just talk about them. In this research project, the Action Level of The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development is researched with regards to possible leading actions, a strategic planning model for grass roots sustainability work, and 3 potential universal categories for Social Sustainability actions.

This thesis investigated the role of the social context in adolescents' musical behaviour. Six studies were conducted to investigate how statements about music contribute to social relationships in adolescence. The studies assessed adolescents' behaviour at various levels of social psychological explanation (c.f. Doise, 1986). A literature review is presented in Section A. Section B addressed behaviour at individual and interpersonal levels of explanation. Chapter 6 investigated adolescents' individual reasons for listening to music. The study demonstrated that music has the potential to fulfil important individual motives concerning identity and mood regulation. Chapters 7 and 8 addressed the interpersonal behaviour of adolescents. Chapter 7 demonstrated that music has the potential to influence adolescents' friendship formation and help maintain existing peer relationships, and Chapter 8 revealed how adolescents use music in the process of social comparison. The final set of studies, reported in Section C, addressed behaviour at the intergroup level of explanation. Chapters 9 and 10 investigated the behaviour of adolescents in experimentally contrived 'minimal groups', and Chapter 11 examined behaviour in a more socially meaningful context. It was demonstrated that music makes an important contribution to social identity in adolescence, and that adolescents' intergroup behaviour is related to their self-esteem. Together, the studies presented in this thesis indicate that music is an intrinsic part of the adolescent process. Adolescents' musical behaviour contributes to their social development, and as such interacts ultimately with their status as members of social groups. Future research should continue to address the impact of this wider social context in developing a more theoretically informed understanding of adolescent involvement with music.

This thesis explores some of the social factors that may affect individuals as they age. A lifespan developmental perspective is employed in investigating the effects of societal aging stereotypes on will-to-live and risk-taking skills. Results suggest negative aging stereotypes may have deleterious effects on the elderly, but not young individuals in terms of will-to-live, but have no effect on risk-taking abilities. Furthermore, a cross-cultural analysis of Americans and Japanese reveals robust differences in self-concept between countries, which in turn partially mediate the effects of culture and age on control strategies. It appears culture and age may play important roles in determining individuals’ self-concept, motivation, and regulation of behavior. The first part of Study 1 examined whether stereotypes of aging contribute to decisions the elderly make about when to die. Elderly and young participants (n = 64) were subliminally primed with either negative or positive stereotypes of old age using a computer, and then responded to hypothetical medical situations involving potentially fatal illnesses. Consistent with my prediction, the aged participants primed with negative stereotypes tended to refuse life-prolonging interventions, whereas those primed with positive age stereotypes tended to accept the interventions. This priming effect did not emerge among the young participants for whom the stereotypes were less relevant. The results suggest that sociallytransmitted negative stereotypes of aging can weaken elderly will-to-live, or at the very least, willingness to pursue medical intervention. The second part of Study 1 examined whether the older adults demonstrate similar risk-taking skills to the younger adults, and whether this ability is preserved, even after exposure to age stereotypes. Sixteen young and 16 older participants were tested on a risk-taking decision task following exposure to subliminal aging stereotypes. In all conditions, both the old and young participants systematically and equivalently increased their willingness to take risks as risk level decreased. Furthermore, response times were an inverted U shape curve with slower response times recorded at the medium risk level and faster times as risk levels shifted up or down. The findings suggest the ability to make decisions based on risk level is maintained into old age. Study 2 investigated results reported by a number of studies finding that primary control remains stable in old age, is lower in Asian countries, and that secondary control increases in old age and is higher in Asian countries. I examined whether these patterns may be due to the mediating influence of an interdependent self-concept. In a sample of 557 young and older adults in Japan and the United States, primary and secondary control, age, and interdependence were studied. I found that interdependence partially mediated the influence of culture on secondary control and interdependence partially mediated the influence of age on both primary and secondary control. Findings suggest that interdependence is an important factor that should be considered in trying to understand the determinants of control crossculturally and developmentally.

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research question answered by this study is what policy and strategy would give the necessary direction to Swartland Municipality’s (SM’s) social development programmes to maximise its impact on the social well-being of the community? The motivation for the study is the need to prioritise social development projects in order to improve effectiveness and efficiency in this field. The methodology used was a qualitative study by means of a conceptual analysis of the term social development, a literature study of international, national and local legislation and policies as well as group interviews with internal and external stakeholders. Social development was defined for the purposes of this study as the process of strengthening the relationships/ partnerships and linkages between people, resources and/or systems within the scope of poverty reduction, expansion of employment opportunities and social integration, with the goal to achieve well-being for individuals, groups and/or communities. Furthermore a literature study explored relevant legislation and policy documents to give clarity on the municipality’s role of social development. Main findings were that the SA Constitution as supreme law, clearly states the municipal objective is to promote social development and states four functions that relate to social development namely child facilities, basic infrastructure, public amenities and sports facilities. Furthermore social development functions in all municipal departments need to co-ordinate to maximise social development resources. Lastly the municipality’s social development programmes must be supplementary and supportive to the work of the Department of Social Development. Furthermore, engagements were held with internal and external stakeholders of Swartland Municipality and the strategic direction was determined by means of a vision, mission and strategic focus areas. The vision identified is: We build and create sustainable social development partnerships with all our people for strengthening the social fabric of the Swartland community. The social development mission is: We initiate, build and promote social development opportunities with the focus on sustainability, which specifically refers to financial viability in the long term, forming partnerships with the community and service providers, not harming the environment and operating within legal powers and functions. Five strategic focus areas flowing from the vision and mission were identified. To promote collaboration and co-ordination is the pivotal focus area. Social development has to be co-ordinated by means of a social development forum represented of all sectors (government, NGO, faith-based, business, agriculture). The other focus areas were: promoting child development/establishing child facilities, lobbying for the vulnerable, facilitating access to the economy and promoting youth development. The impact of service delivery according to the five focus areas must be measured in totality by means of the Human Development Index and reflected in the integrated development plan.

New concepts and a synthesis of existing theories may assist in studying the relationship between social structure, development and rural development. The concept of social structure encompasses the concept of economic structure which may be analysed in terms of three "Moments" of production. On this basis, one can distinguish between heterogeneous and homogeneous relations of production structures. "Homogeneous relations" together with "system dynamics" and ''reproduction", define the concept of a mode of production. "Development" refers to the expansion of total productive capacity, premissed on advanced means of production, and corresponding to the particular relations and forces of production in an economic system. The capitalist mode of production has both tendencies and countertendencies to development. The latter prevail in the Third World due to the admixture and heterogeneity of production relations there, and to their subordinate articulation within an international capitalist economic system. In this context, underdevelopment is the result of the specific factors of monopoly competition, dependence-extraversion, disarticulation-unevenness, the three-tier structure of the peripheral economy, surplus transfer, and class structures and struggles. Rural development can be understood in terms of the specific contribution of agriculture to development, theorized as the "Agrarian Question". Agrarian capitalism has been slow to develop in the Third World, and the state of agriculture remains a problem there. "Rural development" has emerged as a deliberate and interventionist state strategy designed to restructure agrarian relations for development. This has contributed to the formation of particular heterogeneous relations of production articulated to the capitalist mode. In this context, the character of the associated classes has left the Agrarian Question unresolved. "Rural development" continues because it has an important~ and even primary, political significance - although this is not without contradictions.

This thesis explores some of the social factors that may affect individuals as they age. A lifespan developmental perspective is employed in investigating the effects of societal aging stereotypes on will-to-live and risk-taking skills. Results suggest negative aging stereotypes may have deleterious effects on the elderly, but not young individuals in terms of will-to-live, but have no effect on risk-taking abilities. Furthermore, a cross-cultural analysis of Americans and Japanese reveals robust differences in self-concept between countries, which in turn partially mediate the effects of culture and age on control strategies. It appears culture and age may play important roles in determining individuals' self-concept, motivation, and regulation of behavior. The first part of Study 1 examined whether stereotypes of aging contribute to decisions the elderly make about when to die. Elderly and young participants (n = 64) were subliminally primed with either negative or positive stereotypes of old age using a computer, and then responded to hypothetical medical situations involving potentially fatal illnesses. Consistent with my prediction, the aged participants primed with negative stereotypes tended to refuse life-prolonging interventions, whereas those primed with positive age stereotypes tended to accept the interventions. This priming effect did not emerge among the young participants for whom the stereotypes were less relevant. The results suggest that socially transmitted negative stereotypes of aging can weaken elderly will-to-live, or at the very least, willingness to pursue medical intervention. The second part of Study 1 examined whether the older adults demonstrate similar risk-taking skills to the younger adults, and whether this ability is preserved, even after exposure to age stereotypes. Sixteen young and 16 older participants were tested on a risk-taking decision task following exposure to subliminal aging stereotypes. In all conditions, both the old and young participants systematically and equivalently increased their willingness to take risks as risk level decreased. Furthermore, response times were an inverted U shape curve with slower response times recorded at the medium risk level and faster times as risk levels shifted up or down. The findings suggest the ability to make decisions based on risk level is maintained into old age. Study 2 investigated results reported by a number of studies finding that primary control remains stable in old age, is lower in Asian countries, and that secondary control increases in old age and is higher in Asian countries. I examined whether these patterns may be due to the mediating influence of an interdependent self-concept. In a sample of 557 young and older adults in Japan and the United States, primary and secondary control, age, and interdependence were studied. I found that interdependence partially mediated the influence of culture on secondary control and interdependence partially mediated the influence of age on both primary and secondary control. Findings suggest that interdependence is an important factor that should be considered in trying to understand the determinants of control crossculturally and developmentally.

This thesis explores some of the social factors that may affect individuals as they age. A lifespan developmental perspective is employed in investigating the effects of societal aging stereotypes on will-to-live and risk-taking skills. Results suggest negative aging stereotypes may have deleterious effects on the elderly, but not young individuals in terms of will-to-live, but have no effect on risk-taking abilities. Furthermore, a cross-cultural analysis of Americans and Japanese reveals robust differences in self-concept between countries, which in turn partially mediate the effects of culture and age on control strategies. It appears culture and age may play important roles in determining individuals' self-concept, motivation, and regulation of behavior. The first part of Study 1 examined whether stereotypes of aging contribute to decisions the elderly make about when to die. Elderly and young participants (n = 64) were subliminally primed with either negative or positive stereotypes of old age using a computer, and then responded to hypothetical medical situations involving potentially fatal illnesses. Consistent with my prediction, the aged participants primed with negative stereotypes tended to refuse life-prolonging interventions, whereas those primed with positive age stereotypes tended to accept the interventions. This priming effect did not emerge among the young participants for whom the stereotypes were less relevant. The results suggest that socially transmitted negative stereotypes of aging can weaken elderly will-to-live, or at the very least, willingness to pursue medical intervention. The second part of Study 1 examined whether the older adults demonstrate similar risk-taking skills to the younger adults, and whether this ability is preserved, even after exposure to age stereotypes. Sixteen young and 16 older participants were tested on a risk-taking decision task following exposure to subliminal aging stereotypes. In all conditions, both the old and young participants systematically and equivalently increased their willingness to take risks as risk level decreased. Furthermore, response times were an inverted U shape curve with slower response times recorded at the medium risk level and faster times as risk levels shifted up or down. The findings suggest the ability to make decisions based on risk level is maintained into old age. Study 2 investigated results reported by a number of studies finding that primary control remains stable in old age, is lower in Asian countries, and that secondary control increases in old age and is higher in Asian countries. I examined whether these patterns may be due to the mediating influence of an interdependent self-concept. In a sample of 557 young and older adults in Japan and the United States, primary and secondary control, age, and interdependence were studied. I found that interdependence partially mediated the influence of culture on secondary control and interdependence partially mediated the influence of age on both primary and secondary control. Findings suggest that interdependence is an important factor that should be considered in trying to understand the determinants of control crossculturally and developmentally.

This dissertation engages in two major hypotheses regarding infants' naïve theory of social relationships. First, it proposes that infants may apply a domain-specific understanding to represent and reason about social groups defined by affiliation amongst their members. Second, it argues that infants may have an understanding of the causal role that behavioral conformity plays in promoting affiliation, and that this understanding may help to determine how infants reason about the coalitional social groups referred to in the first hypothesis. Experiments across three chapters address different aspects of these hypotheses. The experiments in Chapter 2 ask whether infants selectively use coalitional groups to make certain sorts of behavioral inferences, in contrast to the inferences they draw regarding other animate and inanimate categories. The experiments in Chapter 3 investigate the role of similarity of appearance in infants' representations of coalitional groups. Finally, the experiments in Chapter 4 look at how infants evaluate behavioral conformity and what they think it indicates about the attitudes of conformers and their targets. Chapter 5 synthesizes this work and discusses how it might apply to the study of imitation in both developmental and comparative fields.
Psychology

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a well-known and comprehensive framework for sustainable development. However due to the overlapping and interrelated nature of the goals, action towards one goal can positively or negatively contribute to another.Social innovation hubs including Impact Hub and Centre for Social Innovation use the SDGs to support social entrepreneurs to have a positive impact. Document analysis and interviews with 15 practitioners from these hubs informed the research on how the organizations perceive and contribute to sustainability, how they integrate the SDGs, and the challenges and benefits with using the SDGs. Based on that, this research has developed five recommendations for social innovation hubs to: 1) Define Sustainability; 2) Enhance Visioning; 3) Design co-creative programs; 4) Define Impact;and 5) Communicate Impact. While other elements of the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) could be used to complement the SDGs, the Sustainability Principles (SPs) of the FSSD are recommended as a definition for sustainability.

Psychology
Ph.D.
Changes in social information processing that occur during adolescence are thought to rely on the functional and structural maturation of a network of interconnected brain regions referred to as “the social brain.” The morphology of these brain regions, individually, is thought to be associated with functional specialization and/or ability, but little is known about the relationship between the morphology of the network and its functional specialization. Studies suggest that repeatedly executed psychological processes are not only reflected in functional networks, but may also be related to coordinated morphological changes in the brain across multiple regions that are functionally and structurally connected. The present study sought to explore changes in neuromorphological covariation that occur in the social brain network between adolescence and adulthood (Aim 1), using magnetic resonance imaging and graph theory, and link the properties of this covariance to self-reported and behavioral aspects of social information processing, specifically resistance to peer influence (Aim 2.1), rejection sensitivity (Aim 2.2), and the control of automatic reactions to socially relevant stimuli (Aim 2.3). The specificity of these results to social stimuli was assessed by also analyzing covariance properties in relation to a non-social measure of cognitive functioning (Aim 2.4). Subjects were 217 healthy right-handed individuals between the ages of 13 and 25 – 77 adolescents (ages 13-17), 73 young adults (ages 18-21), and 67 adults (ages 22-25). Analyses involved extracting cortical thickness values for the social brain network for each subject, and conducting group-level graph theoretic analyses. Results suggest that older subjects, subjects who are less sensitive to social stimuli and those who perform better on a behavioral inhibition task, all share one characteristic: the density of covariance in the structural social brain network is low compared to individuals who are younger, more sensitive to social stimuli, and who perform worse on a behavioral inhibition task. Furthermore, this pattern was not observed in a non-social measure of cognitive functioning, suggesting a level of specificity to social information processing in the reported findings. By suggesting that selective structural covariance in the social brain may be characteristic of maturity but also more adaptive in social contexts, the findings from the present study contribute to the idea that adolescence is a time of great opportunity for shaping the brain's structural architecture.
Temple University--Theses

Whilst there exists a strong academic tradition regarding the importance of critique and reflexivity within community development theory, it is evident that the vast majority of the critical examination undertaken constitutes internal, methodological critiques of specific aspects of community development practice. This thesis sets about critically examining the theory of community development in its entirety, through an identification and comparison of the field’s core tenets and principles by way of a review of the prominent literature. Through this examination, two key issues will be identified. The first is that, partly due to conceptual unclarity, community development has the potential to place the responsibility for rectifying inequality unjustly. The second is that community development theory generally seems to reflect an inadequate understanding of the concept of power. Born out of this critique will be some further analysis, designed to propose some potential ways in which to address the issues identified. It is argued that community development should strive to model community involvement specifically within a framework of social justice, through the adoption of a rights-based approach, as well as attempt to incorporate a more complex, Foucouldian conception of power into its core theorising. It is further proposed that community development must overtly recognise that it, as a discipline, constitutes a form of government. Finally, the thesis advocates for a shift in community participation, away from a simple involvement in decision making, towards processes which act to challenge the dominant discourses and political rationalities which serve to perpetuate inequality.

This research aims to assess the role of Social Funds&rsquo
organizational and institutional characteristics for community participation processes in development projects. The research is based on a case study of the Peruvian Social Fund, FONCODES, and utilizes a qualitative data collection approach. It mainly relies on semi-structured interviews with FONCODES&rsquo
staff and community members, unstructured interviews with experts, and analysis of operational documents. The research concludes that several organizational and institutional characteristics affect community participation in FONCODES projects but the direction of this influence depends on how specific areas of the organization&rsquo
s context are structured as well as on political variables in the institutional environment.

Thesis (M.S. in Computer Science)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2006.
Thesis Advisor(s): Craig H. Martell, Neil C. Rowe. "June 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-52). Also available in print.

This thesis aims to investigate the development of social cognition during adolescence. Neuroimaging research has provided new evidence for significant developments of the brain during adolescence, contesting old notions that the human brain reaches maturity by childhood. The prefrontal, parietal and superior temporal cortices have been highlighted as the regions that undergo the most prolonged and profound structural change. Given the association of these brain areas with social cognitive tasks, including perspective taking, intention understanding and motor imagery, this series of studies have sought to investigate the social cognitive consequences of these brain developments. The first study in this thesis investigated the development of perspective taking between late childhood and adulthood and found that perspective taking develops in terms of efficiency and possibly strategy during adolescence. The second study investigated perspective taking in adult patients with positive symptoms of schizophrenia, including delusions of persecution, and suggested differences in processing one's own and other people's perspectives in patients compared to normal controls. The third study used fMRI to investigate the development of the neural circuitry for intentional causality during adolescence and found a shift from relatively higher activity in superior temporal cortex during adolescence to relatively higher activity in medial prefrontal cortex in adulthood. In light of motor theories of social cognition, the fourth study comprised three motor imagery experiments that investigated the development of action representation during adolescence. Results suggested that the action representation system is refined during adolescence. The final study compared action representation in typically developing adolescents and those with autism spectrum disorders and found no differences in performance between groups. Together, these studies have shown that certain social cognitive abilities develop during adolescence. The relation between social and motor cognition is discussed from a developmental perspective, as well as the link to brain maturation during adolescence. Finally speculations are made about how these processes may become dysfunctional in psychopathology.

Sustainable development most prominently entered the global political arena in 1987 in a report from the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland report. In response to the concept of sustainable development, a vast array of ideas, concepts, methods and tools to aid organizations and governments in addressing the socio-ecological problems has been developed. Though helpful in many contexts, the multitude of such support also risks creating confusion, not the least since there is no generally endorsed overriding and operational definition of sustainability. Thus, there is a growing need for such a definition and for an understanding of how these ideas, concepts, methods and tools relate to sustainability and to each other. A framework for strategic sustainable development (FSSD) has been developed over the last 20 years to create such a unifying structure. The aim of this research is to contribute specifically to the social sustainability definition of this framework. The research follows the Design Research Methodology. First, the social dimension of the FSSD as it stands currently was examined and described as was the general field of social sustainability. Then, a new approach to the social side of the FSSD was created. The studies revealed that the field of social sustainability, in general, is vastly under-theorized and under-developed, and that a clear framework is important and desired. They also laid out in which ways specifically the structure of the FSSD could be used to further develop the social dimension of strategic planning and innovation, and that currently this aspect of the FSSD is relatively under-developed. This assessment was followed by a first attempt at a clearer definition of social sustainability. Based on these explorations, this research suggests five principles as a hypothesis to be used as a definition of social sustainability, the key-terms of which being ’integrity’, ‘influence’, ‘competence’, ‘impartiality’ and ‘meaning’. For validity purposes the results were cross-checked with other approaches and theories. The validity check shows that similar key-terms have been found by other researchers. In conclusion, this research contributes with a hypothesis for a clearer definition of social sustainability, which is general enough to be applied irrespective of spatial and temporal constraints, but concrete enough to guide decision-making. This is a contribution to systems science in the sustainability field and it is a step to creating an enhanced support for strategic planning and innovation for sustainability. Further testing and refinement of this theoretical foundation, and bringing it into practical use, will be the subject of the continued studies.

The usage of KTH Social increases and professors are to a greater extent moving towards KTH Social in order to manage their courses. The purpose of KTH Social is to provide all course relevant information visualised in one single platform. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether there are development possibilities of the KTH Social schedule area and what these are. In a questionnaire, which was formed with theories of Human-computer interaction and Time management in mind, KTH students were to answer questions regarding the schedule area of KTH Social. Development suggestions were included in the questionnaire as well, in order to receive feedback from the students. The results were compiled and correlations were made and discussed. The students were positive to the development suggestions. Development suggestions within several sections of the schedule area could be presented.
Användningen av KTH Social ökar och professorer börjar i större utsträckning att använda sig av KTH Social i sina kurser. Syftet med KTH Social är att tillhandahålla all nödvändig kursinformation på en och samma plattform. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka huruvida det finns utvecklingsmöjligheter till schemadelen av KTH Social och vilka dessa är. I en enkät, som var utformad utifrån teorier inom Människa-datorinteraktion och Time Management, fick KTH-studenter svara på frågor rörande schemadelen i KTH Social. Enkäten innehöll även utvecklingsförslag som studenterna fick tycka till om. Resultaten sammanställdes och korrelationer påvisades och diskuterades. Studenterna visade sig positivt inställda till utvecklingsförslagen. Utvecklingsförslag inom flera områden av schemadelen kunde presenteras.

This thesis seeks to understand how social capital develops within voluntary sports clubs. It adopts a micro-perspective to examine how social capital, defined as ‘the ability to secure resources by virtue of membership in social networks or larger social structures’ (Portes and Landolt, 2000: 532), emerges from social interaction within voluntary sports club contexts. The thesis is informed by a critical realist perspective that focuses on the underlying social mechanisms involved and how they operate differently for different groups and individuals in different circumstances. The empirical analysis, which represents the main contribution of the thesis, is based on three case studies of voluntary sports clubs in the UK. These case studies were carried out over 18 months and involved a number of in-depth interviews with members and organisers and periods of observation at each of the clubs. The analysis shows that members accessed a range of resources through the social ties they formed at the clubs. Interestingly, the analysis demonstrates that, as well as forming strong and weak ties, as standard network models would predict, members formed ‘compartmentally intimate’ ties at the clubs: strong ties that were domain-specific. The analysis reveals that several core mechanisms – reciprocity exchanges, enforceable trust, value introjection and bounded solidarity – operated at the clubs to develop social capital for members, but that these mechanisms were influenced in multiple ways by various elements of context. In particular, the analysis focuses on the socio-organisational context of the clubs and identifies several key elements, including the nature of the focal activity, the voluntariness of participation, the co-operative nature of engagement, the relative absence of hierarchy and the diversity of membership. Overall, the thesis provides support for an organisationally embedded view of social capital development and offers a rare example of critical realist research on social capital.

Social Identity Theory (SIT) (Tajfel & Turner 1979) is a widely accepted theoretical perspective on intergroup behaviour in adults. SIT, however, does not take account of the development of prejudice in children. Plethoras of research have investigated the development of this social construct in children. Given the unique social and political situation, many studies have focused on prejudice and in-group awareness in Northern Ireland. There remains, however, a lack of consensus regarding the age at which prejudice develops in children. Therefore this research study aimed to investigate if there was a consensus among children, young people, parents and teachers as to what age children become aware of their social identity in terms of ethnic/religious group affiliation and when this becomes salient. A mixed methods approach, incorporating questionnaires, focus groups and a quasi-experimental design was employed. The questionnaire participants included a convenience sample of Catholic and Protestant parents (97), teachers (74) and young people (221) and the focus groups comprised parents (15), teachers (12) and young people (22) from mixed ethnic/religious groups. The quasi- experiment involved 201 children, aged 7-11 years, from Maintained and Controlled schools. Results indicated a general consensus amongst parents, teachers and young people; children become aware of their social identity between 8.4 and 8.9 years, and social identity becomes salient between 10.6 and 11.7 years. One third of young people felt that social identity never becomes a salient issue. Interestingly, although Protestant children displayed a significant in-group preference, the Catholic children did not. Protestant children also rated the out-group artist higher than the Catholic children. In conclusion, this study would provide evidence to support the notion that prejudice in children in Northern Ireland is not as prevalent as some might suggest and not all children brought up in a divided society necessarily develop prejudiced attitudes towards the out-group.

Equality rights have the potential to play an important role in realizing social rights, as well as in preventing and eliminating poverty. All governments have undertaken legal obligations - both international and domestic - to protect and promote the rights to equality and nondiscrimination. Yet, our societies are generally characterized by growing economic and social inequalities that adversely impact on many dimensions of people's lives, including health, life expectancy, personal security and political participation, implicating a myriad of human rights. This thesis examines the relationship between equality and social rights in the International Bill of Human Rights. It argues that minimum threshold approaches that focus on basic capabilities or core obligations are insufficient to fully realize social rights and eliminate multi-dimensional poverty. Because inequality prevents full enjoyment of social rights, as well as other human rights, invoking equality rights is a logical step toward realizing these rights. Considerable scholarship and jurisprudence addresses status-based inequalities, however, it generally fails to address economic status. Moreover, there is little discussion of the right-based equality in the context of social rights. Drawing on the drafting history and the language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two International Covenants, as well as the work of the United Nations human rights bodies, scholarly commentary and domestic law, the thesis proposes that the International Bill of Human Rights should be reinterpreted to encompass the right to nondiscrimination on the basis of economic status as well as the right to social equality. Examining specific examples of unequal health care and education systems, it argues that both status-based and rights- based equality are necessary complements to social rights in the holistic framework of the International Bill of Human Rights guaranteed under article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Gender and social norms in economic development' analyses gender related issues throughout the development process from an economics point of view. Different issues are examined for countries at different stages of the development process. The issues examined here have a gender component and have to do with participation and social norms. In some cases, the motivation for this differential participation or inequality is the focus of the study; in others, we focus on the economic consequences of this differential participation. In the first chapter, we investigate participation in dowry in a very poor area, namely rural Bangladesh. In that chapter we explore the different possible economic motivations for dowries using household survey information from the Matlab area in rural Bangladesh spanning 1930-1996. We find that dowry participation in the area has increased in recent decades. We also find that religion, coupled with social norms, seems to be an important component in explaining the evolution of dowry. In the second chapter we examine the economic consequences of different participation by gender in the labour market in a poor country - India. We develop a model that suggests distortions in the allocation of talent which we then test with aggregate information by sector using panel data from India's states over 1961-1991. Results suggest that even though implications are different by sector, gender inequality in labour participation in several categories hinders development. In the third chapter, we indirectly study participation of women in top level positions, by analising the different hiring by gender in Spanish public exams. The analysis constitutes a relevant randomised experiment with implications for gender parity rules, or gender quotas. We use information about 75,000 candidates to the judiciary over 1995-2004 who were randomly allocated to evaluating committees. Contrary to expectations behind gender parity rules, we find that recruitment committees with a higher share of women hire fewer women than committees with a higher share of men, suggesting that taste discrimination is not behind the low numbers of women in top level positions.

School professionals are implementing a universal social-emotional learning program for children in Kindergarten and Grade 1 (aged 4-6 years) in many schools across the province with training and funding provided by the government. The Fun FRIENDS (Barrett, 2007) program focuses on increasing social-emotional learning and promotes coping techniques and resiliency in order to prevent the onset of behavioural and emotional disorders (Pahl & Barrett, 2007). Preliminary results (Pahl & Barrett, 2007, 2010) have highlighted the effectiveness of the Fun FRIENDS program in reducing anxiety in children. The present study utilized a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effectiveness of the Fun FRIENDS program in reducing anxiety and promoting social-emotional competence among a sample of Kindergarten and Grade 1 students (N = 33) in a British Columbia school district. Results revealed a significant decrease in program participants’ anxiety symptoms as rated by teachers when compared with those in the control group. Teachers also reported that children who participated in the program had significant increases in social-emotional skills, while those in the control group’s skills remained the same. However, overall, children in the control group had significantly higher social-emotional skills, as rated by teachers. No significant results were found for parent rated levels of anxiety or social-emotional skills of children enrolled in either condition. Despite limitations of the study, the overall results demonstrate promising outcomes for students who participate in the Fun FRIENDS program.