Indoda iyanyamezela (a man perseveres): Exploring the perceptions, experiences and the psycho-social challenges of Xhosa young men in the Western Cape who have transitioned from adolescence to manhood without present or involved fathers

BACKGROUND: Father absence or uninvolvement is a growing problem worldwide, which not only negatively influences child development, but also the masculine identity formation of boy children. South Africa is one of the countries that has high levels of father absence, yet there has been scant research which particularly focuses on the perceptions, experiences and psycho-social challenges experienced by young men with absent fathers. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore the perceived influence of father absence or uninvolvement on Xhosa young men who have transitioned from adolescence to manhood. The first objective was to explore the perceptions, experiences and the psycho-social challenges of Xhosa young men in Khayelitsha, Western Cape who have transitioned from adolescence to manhood without present or involved fathers. The second objective was to explore Xhosa male elders' perceptions of the experiences and challenges of Xhosa young men who culturally transition from adolescence to manhood without present or involved fathers. The third objective was to identify the support needs of Xhosa young men before, during and after transitioning from adolescence to manhood in the absence of a present or involved biological father. METHODOLOGY: Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory as a conceptual framework, the study employed a qualitative approach to investigate factors that shape and influence experiences of Xhosa young men with absent or uninvolved fathers at individual, family, community and societal levels. Semi-structured in-depth individual interviews were conducted using interview guides covering various topics: family life; conceptualisation of manhood and fatherhood; father absence in Xhosa communities and its causes and impacts; the value of social fathers as well as the possible preventative interventions at different levels of the society to promote father presence or involvement and mitigate the impact of father absence. All interviews took place at different venues offered by community organisations in Khayelitsha (Ilitha Park, Site B and Nkanini) in the Western Cape province. They were conducted in isiXhosa, audio-recorded, transcribed and translated into English for analysis. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis utilising the NVivo 12 software package. During transcription, three researchers read the transcripts and developed an initial coding framework which was then used to code the rest of the data, making adjustments as necessary. The data were categorised thematically paying attention to dominant themes that addressed the research questions, while being open to additional themes arising in the data, and this process occurred until no new themes emerged. ETHICAL APPROVAL: The ethical approval of this study was provided by the UCT Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC 654/2018). RESULTS: The interviews were conducted with 22 Xhosa young men with absent or uninvolved fathers (ages 18-22) and five Xhosa male elders (ages 55-73). Due to the sensitivity of the topic initiation, a vignette was used to avoid directness. The main perceptions, experiences and psychosocial challenges of Xhosa young men who have transitioned from adolescence to manhood without present or involved fathers, were synthesised as follows: (i) The meaning given to cultural male circumcision by young men and elders were its individual family benefits. (ii) The challenges of Xhosa patriarchy, a father's role, and his absence, and paternal connection needs during initiation: planning, masculine guidance and protection, emotional and cultural support. (iii) The significance of the fatherly role and implications of father absence before and beyond initiation: the traditional and modern role. (iv) Barriers to father presence or uninvolvement: financial constraints, maternal gate-keeping and mother's negative attitudes. Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, the support needs of Xhosa young men without present or involved fathers before, during and after transitioning from adolescence to manhood were identified as follows: (i) At the microsystem level, single mothers and maternal families of Xhosa young men need to be open regarding father absence, acknowledge the pain it causes and avoid maternal gatekeeping and paternal identity concealment. However, they also need to receive psycho-social support in order to be able to link the young men with social fathers, especially around initiation. (ii) At the mesosystem level, the social institutions such as churches, schools and sports clubs should have awareness regarding father absence or uninvolvement as a social problem in order to be sensitive towards the emotional needs of children with absent or uninvolved fathers. (iii) At the exosystem level, there is a need for fathers' environments (such as family, friends and the workplace) to encourage and foster lifestyles that promote father presence or involvement. (iv)At the macrosystem level, the media should raise awareness of father absence, and there must be policies and programmes that promote egalitarian parenting. (v) At the chronosystem level, there is a need to embrace and practice the modern fatherhood role which requires the father to be warm, spend quality time and have strong communication with his children. CONCLUSION: Cultural initiation is a crucial time for emotional and cultural growth which largely contributes to the development of manhood identity; it benefits the person on an individual and family level. However, this study notes that initiation comes with advantages and disadvantages for the Xhosa young men. It is a vehicle for growth, but also serves as a reminder of the vacant paternal role during this culturally significant process, especially in the midst of maternal gate-keeping and paternal identity concealment issues. Furthermore, in the course of their lives, the young men also experience loss related to not being exposed to the various positive roles a father would play, including the roles of disciplinarian, provider and the nurturer. Even though social fathers and strong maternal kin support could help Xhosa young men to cope better, the void of the biological father remains unfilled, especially around the period of initiation due to the emotional, cultural and financial implications of the ritual. This study shows that the young men could experience depression, be suicidal, have anger and resort to substance use when not supported. There is thus a need for multi-dimensional interventions to address these issues. These should start with psycho-educational support for maternal families to empower them to be supportive towards the emotional and cultural needs of the young men as the families do not always possess the necessary skills to support a child in this predicament. Absent fathers also need to be engaged in order to understand the reasons leading to their disengagement, and to sensitise them regarding the consequences of their absence for them to better understand the permanence of fatherhood. Advocacy is needed to make the wider society aware of the support needs of Xhosa young men who go through initiation in the absence of a father. Finally, the strategies that seem to yield positive results in managing father absence need to be strengthened, namely: strong maternal family support, social fathering, counselling and mentorship

Applications of Leadership Theories in Nigerian Business Organizations

There appears to be much controversies and disputations about the nature, meaning and characteristics of the term “leadership”. Here, controversy turns on the imprecision, variability, ambiguity and contradictions which imbue the construct. Arising from these controversies and disputations, this paper investigated the applications of leadership theories in Nigerian business organizations. The research was guided by one theory and one objective.  Data were collected mainly from secondary source and these were complemented with interviews conducted among some selected staff of the organizations of study. The finding revealed that:  the organizations of study apply path-goal theory in their operations and marketing strategies; the organizations of study apply apply task-oriented leadership model in their operations and marketing strategies; and that the   task-oriented leadership model adopted by the organizations of study results in low job satisfaction, high labour turnover among the employees as well as high job performance. The study recommends an integrative theory of leadership.  This theory states that because of different characteristics of people working in an organization and numerous environmental variables, a leader should adopt a bundle of theories in running an organization.  The type to be adopted at a particular time depends upon the situation.  Besides, leadership seminars and workshops should be conducted from time to time with a view to educating the workers, management and other stakeholders on the proper applications of relevant leadership theories in this 21st century. Keywords: Leadership, Integrative, Bundles, Path-Goal theory

EXTRACTING THE ELIXIR OF LIFE

We are living in extraordinary times. Over the next twenty years, humanity is facing opportunities to expand consciousness far beyond what is known today. To help us traverse these unknown waters, our ancestors left behind esoteric maps carefully encrypted within the stories of ancient mythology and the science of astrology. But these tales do more than ensure our survival. They remind us that first and foremost, we are eternal beings, and they reveal alchemical methods to extract the famed elixir of life – so that we may experience the unlimited world of creation, once only available to the gods and goddesses

Leadership and Work Attitude: A Symbiosis Relationship that Shape Organization Performance

The term leadership tends to conjure in our minds picture of great military commanders such as General Patton,stirring politicians and statesmen such as Winston Churchill, or charismatic leaders of national movements suchas Gandhi. But while people such as these were undoubtedly great leaders, they are only the most visible andobvious examples of leadership in action. Infarct, every time a person attempts to get other people to dosomething that the person wants them to do, he or she is functioning as a leader. Seen in this perspective,leadership is exercised in organizations from the chief executive officer right down to the first-level supervisoron the shop floor. Leadership is a core variable in the management of human and material resources withoutwhich organizations or groups may not function effectively. Concepts like mob or crowd simply define anassembly of people without leadership. On the other hand, a situation of anarchy describes a group with apparentleadership disintegration. When an economic venture is undertaken by an organization, with a view tomaximizing economic opportunities, it calls for a person or persons to supervise, direct, control, and co-ordinatethe activities of production and workers co-operation. This example simply points to the role of leadership in anorganization.Keywords: Leaders, Workers, Influence, Symbiosis, Organization, Performance

The Fatherhood of God: an Exegetical Study From the Hebrew Scriptures

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a theology of the fatherhood of God from the Hebrew Scriptures. Although many studies have explored the topic from the perspective of other disciplines, the actual theology of God\u27s fatherhood, as revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures, has been neglected until now. This has resulted in the dichotomization between the concept of God as presented in the so-called Old and New Testaments. Because of the tendency to explain God through the lenses of Greek and Roman mythology, chapter 1 surveys ANE thought, showing that the fatherhood of god concept goes back a lot further, and is more pervasive, than the more modern mythologies seem to indicate. However, although similar terms and concepts are found (e.g., creative, salvific, kind, compassionate, merciful, etc.), the relationship they enjoyed with humans was not nearly as personal, intimate, or widespread as the relationship God enjoys with His children. The eighteen occurrences of God\u27s fatherhood explicitly mentioned in Scripture are exegeted in chapter 2. These texts are grouped together in the Song of Moses (Deut 32), the Vision of Nathan (2 Sam 7; 1 Chr 17; 22, 28; and 29), in the Psalms and Wisdom Literature (Pss 68; 89; 103; and Prov 3), and in the prophets (Isa 63, 64; Jer 3; 31; Mal 1; and 2). The theological themes within them are discussed in chapter 3, arriving at a picture of God that is passionately involved with His individual children. One of the main contributions of this dissertation is that it explores God\u27s fatherhood from a theocentric perspective, rather than an anthropocentric one. However, the implications of this view of God impact human experience, since the attributes of God\u27s fatherhood found in the Hebrew Scriptures provide researchers and practitioners in family dynamics a positive, multidimensional, role model for human fatherhood

Human Ecology Economics (HEE) and Strategic Management

Human Ecology Economics (HEE) draws on evolutionary and complex systems processes by incorporating interdisciplinary material from the humanities and sciences. Lessons for strategic managers follow from this HEE perspective with examples from the banking industry. HEE can nurture a broad environmental perspective among strategic managers and an ontological understanding of their organization within its dynamic ecology. Reconciliation is attempted between the chaotic dualities inherent in strategic management (SM)

The revelation of the Triune God in the theologies of John Calvin and Karl Barth.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX185702 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

THE PAULINE CONCEPT OF DISCIPLESHIP AS A MODEL FOR ADDRESSING THE YOUTH DROPOUT IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CHURCH.

The dropout rate of more than five million young adults from faith and church in the last decade, who were originally born and raised in Christian homes, has reached a critical point. The Christian community must rethink its discipleship methods in order to impact the youth of today. The researcher explored the root causes of the problem and identified that the current discipleship assumptions and strategies, rooted in modern mechanistic mass production paradigm do not work. Therefore, these assumptions and strategies must give way to a personally crafted one-on-one relational fatherly mentorship interconnected approach for the faith formation of the youth of the Church in the United States. Existing research findings from Barna, Pew, and Fuller Institute indicated a crucial need for a new ecosystem of spiritual and vocational apprenticeship. This system can support deeper relationships and more vibrant faith formation and discipleship, which must be intentionally pursued by church leaders of today. During the first century, the Apostle Paul, undoubtedly understood the concept of one-on-one relational mentorship. His discipleship efforts impacted significantly the lives of young adults like Timothy, Titus, Luke, and Onesimus, to name a few. Paul\u27s influence on these young men was so impactful that his departure from active ministry following his arrest in Jerusalem did not affect negatively the growth of the church. The researcher identified the great principles of the Pauline concept of discipleship, including love, relationship, fathering, and mentorship, and has employed these concepts to address the reasons youth gave for their disconnection from faith and church. These include, but are not limited to overprotective parents and leaders, shallow teachings, anti-science rhetoric, repressive bias, doubts, and exclusivity. Leaders of the twenty-first-century church in the United States of America must innovatively adopt and incorporate the basic principles of the Pauline model of discipleship to end or at least minimize the current youth dropout rate