Society and Self: A Symbolic Interactionist Framework for Sociological Practice

Interactionist concepts and explanations of human behavior prevalent among major psychological theory groups are traced in relationship to the symbolic interactionist principles of emergence, voluntarism, and process. I argue that most theory central to psychology is interactionist in nature; that central tenets of symbolic interactionism are woven throughout psychological theory; and that the same interactionist premises can equally form the foundation for clinical sociology as a form of sociological practice

Shifting gender regimes: The complexities of domestic violence among Canada's Inuit

Cet article intègre les voix des femmes inuit dans le discours sur la violence domestique, un problème central dans leurs communautés. Les opinions des femmes inuit interviewées proviennent d'une étude faite à Pangnirtung (Nunavut) entre 1988 et 2002, et sont présentées avec des statistiques sur la violence domestique. Le gouvernement canadien regroupa les Inuit de la toundra dans ce petit village de la Terre de Baffin durant les années 1960. Les sources de la violence domestique sont enchâssées dans le contexte du bien-être des femmes, des impacts de la relocalisation, du changement social rapide et des droits des femmes en tant que droits humains. Les modes traditionnels de violence domestique, tels que décrits par les femmes inuit, sont comparés aux taux contemporains. Les femmes inuit de toutes générations explorent les facteurs qui précipitent la violence domestique et les impacts de cette dernière. Dans la mesure où la violence domestique résulte de régimes des genres renversés et déséquilibrés, amplifiés dans le cas présent par un changement social rapide, ce pourrait être un phénomène transitionnel. Au fur et à mesure que les Inuit développeront de nouvelles formes culturelles et qu'une stabilité politique et économique émergera de la création du Nunavut, les taux de violence domestique devraient décliner. Puisque le bien-être individuel contribue au bien-être social en général et vice versa, les femmes et leurs communautés devraient ressentir un plus bas niveau de bien-être objectif et subjectif tant que la violence domestique ne sera pas réduite.This article brings the voices of Inuit women into the discourse on domestic violence as a core issue in their communities. The views of Inuit women interviewed as part of a case study of Pangnirtung, Nunavut Territory between 1988 and 2002 are accompanied by statistics on patterns of domestic violence. The Canadian Government brought the Inuit from the land to this small Baffin Island hamlet during the 1960s. The sources of domestic violence are framed within the context of female well-being and the impacts of resettlement, rapid social change, and women’s rights as human rights. Traditional patterns of domestic violence, as reported by Inuit women, are compared to contemporary rates. Inuit women across generations explore the precipitating factors and impacts of domestic violence. Insofar as domestic violence results from shifting (and unbalanced) gender regimes, in this case amplified by rapid social change, it may be a transitional phenomenon. As the Inuit develop new cultural forms, and political and economic stability emerge from the creation of Nunavut, domestic violence rates should decline. Because individual well-being contributes to general social well-being and vice versa, women and their communities are likely to experience a lower level of both objective and subjective well-being until domestic violence has been reduced

Standing Traditions on its Head: Role Reversal Among Blood Indian Couples

The woman is the foundation on which nations are built. She is the heart of her nation. If that heart is weak the people are weak. If her heart is strong and her mind is clear then the nation is strong and knows its purpose. The woman is the centre of everything. But equally, women must honour men; If not, then everything is out of balance and we can have nothing but chaos and pain. These are the first elements that must be put back together or nothing, but nothing can come right again.

Reduced dimension modeling of leading edge turbulent interaction noise

A computational aeroacoustics approach is used to model the effects of real airfoil geometry on leading edge turbulent interaction noise for symmetric airfoils at zero angle of attack. For the first time, one-component (transverse), two-component (transverse and streamwise), and three-component (transverse, streamwise, and spanwise) synthesized turbulent disturbances are modeled instead of single frequency transverse gusts, which previous computational studies of leading edge noise have been confined to. The effects of the inclusion of streamwise and spanwise disturbances on the noise are assessed, and it is shown that accurate noise predictions for symmetric airfoils can be made by modeling only the transverse disturbances, which reduces the computational expense of simulations. Additionally, the two-component turbulent synthesis method is used to model the effects of airfoil thickness on the noise for thicknesses ranging from 2% to 12%. By using sufficient airfoil thicknesses to show trends, it is found that airfoil thickness will reduce the noise at high frequency, and that the sound power P will reduce linearly with increasing airfoil thickness

Contributions of women to family Business as evidence in the Eastern Cape

Family businesses are operating throughout the world and suggested to be the predominant way of doing business. This is also true in South Africa with its unique challenges and informal sector providing work to many South Africans not able to find work in the formal sector. Women operating in the corporate environment have traditionally encountered challenges in breaking through the glass ceiling in order to be counted as a successful person in her own right. The same scenario seems to be evident in the family Business environment. Women in family business might choose the family business career path as it allows them more flexibility and time to attend to the home and children, but they also face a glass ceiling of another nature and are there other challenges to overcome in order to make their mark in the family business world. This study’s primary objective was to investigate the literature pertaining to women in business and women in family business. Of great importance was to determine what contributions women make in the family business environment allowing them to be successful. In order to answer this question the secondary objectives supported the primary objective of this study and pertained to the difference between men and women in terms of leadership style and execution of their personalities in business. The inherent strengths and weaknesses displayed by both male and females in the family business environment are investigated in order to link this to their management execution. v A questionnaire was developed to do an empirical study on respondents as identified in the Nelson Mandela Metropole and greater Eastern Cape. The respondents were from varied industries and was selected and interviewed with the support of the questionnaire structure as guidance. The results were analysed and certain recommendations were made addressing the primary objective. Further recommendations were made relating to future potential research in this area. An important finding of the research is that women as identified in the Eastern Cape environment still have difficulty in reaching the top. This is true for the corporate world as well as the family business environment. The difficulty might be based in the traditional roles women assume, but in many cases it was found that women are responsible for their downfall or stagnation in the family business environment as women are satisfied to remain in the shadows and do not command their own space and right of existence. Recommendations were made based on the advice of some of the female respondents which can assist in women stepping up to the role they should take up. Some of the advice given can be used as a best practice in future research of this nature

Effect of an aggressive versus conservative, multi-modal rehabilitation programme on chronic lower back pain

Low back pain has become one of the most influential musculoskeletal diseases of modern society. It is one of most expensive diseases in terms of medical costs and increased worker absenteeism, which can lead to permanent disability and places strain on the economy as a whole. Pain has been recognised as a disease in itself, which has certain consequences when it becomes chronic. Many kinds of treatment options exist with varying degrees of success. The question is thus which treatment option is the most favourable and cost-effective. Conservative treatment is the most recommended form of treatment when no serious underlying diseases are present. Exercise has been shown to be very effective in the treatment of chronic low back pain but there are still questions regarding the use of exercise therapy. The predetermined goal of the study was to ascertain whether an aggressiveprogressive exercise programme, and specifically what kind of exercises, would be more effective in the treatment of chronic low back pain. This was achieved through a number of steps, which included an extensive literature review, the identification of an appropriate test battery with related minimum physical requirements and cut scores, subject recruitment and screening of subjects, the implementation of the intervention and the subsequent re-testing of the subjects. Once the data was completed, the next step was to make use of two case studies to assist in illustrating the effectiveness of individual patients compared to the sample as a whole. These case studies were of patients who completed the entire programme but one took longer to complete the programme. This assists in illustrating the value of maintaining exercise protocol. The results from the present study are extremely positive. The two case studies provided a glimpse of the potential value that could be added through the implementation of more aggressive-progressive exercise interventions in the treatment of chronic low back pain. The final product will greatly assist exercise therapists concerned with the treatment of chronic low back pain along with cognitive-behavioural techniques. Hopefully this study will provide insight into managing chronic low back pain in South Africa from an exercise standpoint. Secondly the study will provide practical techniques to implement in an era in which economic difficulties are rife.AFRIKAANS: Laerugpyn het een van die invloedrykste muskuloskeletale siektes van die moderne samelewing geword. Dit is een van die duurste siektes in terme van mediese koste en verhoogde siekverlof deur werkers, wat kan lei tot permanente ongeskiktheid en ’n verhoogde las plaas op die ekonomie as ’n geheel. Pyn word erken as ’n siekte op sy eie wat sekere gevolge het wanneer dit chronies begin raak. Verskeie soorte behandelingsopsies is beskikbaar met variërende grade van sukses. Die vraag is dus watter behandelingsopsie is die bruikbaarste en koste-doeltreffendste. Konserwatiewe behandeling is die mees aanbevole metode van behandeling wanneer daar geen ernstige onderliggende siektetoestande teenwoordig is nie. Dit is reeds bewys dat oefening baie doeltreffend is in die behandeling van chroniese laerugpyn. Daar bestaan egter steeds vrae rondom die gebruik van oefening as terapie.Die vooropgestelde doelwit van die studie was om te bepaal of ’n aggressiewe-progressiewe inoefeningsprogram doeltreffend sal wees in die behandeling van chroniese laerugpyn, en meer spesifiek watter tipe oefening die doeltreffendste sal wees. Die navorsing het bestaan uit ’n paar stappe wat ingesluit het ’n intensiewe literatuursoektog, die identifisering van ’n gepaste toetsbattery met verwante minimum fisieke vereistes en afsnytellings, die verkryging en evaluering van proefpersone, die implementering van die intervensieprogram en die daaropvolgende hertoetsing van die proefpersone.Nadat die invordering van die data en die gepaardgaande analise van die data voltooi is, was die volgende stap om gebruik te maak van twee gevallestudies ten einde die doeltreffendheid van die intervensieprogram vir individuele proefpersone te ilustreer deur dit te vergelyk met die groep as ’n geheel. Die twee gevallestudies was van proefpersone wat die intervensieprogram volledig voltooi het, alhoewel die een proefpersoon langer geneem het om die intervensieprogram te voltooi. Dit help om die navolgingswaarde van ’n inoefeningsprotokol te illustreer. Die resultate van die huidige studie is uiters positief. Die twee gevallestudies gee ’n mate van insig wat betref die potensiële waarde wat verkry kan word deur die implementering van ’n meer aggressiewe-progressiewe inoefeningsintervensie vir die behandeling van chroniese lae rugpyn. Die finale produk sal die nodige ondersteuning aan oefeningsterapeute bied wat onseker is oor die behandeling van chroniese laerugpyn deur middel van aggressiewe-progressiewe inoefeningsintervensies en kognitiewe gedragstegnieke. Hierdie studie sal dus die begrip en insig van die behandeling van chroniese laerugpyn in Suid-Afrika verhoog vanuit ’n oefeningsuitgangspunt. Tweedens sal die studie die gebruik van praktiese oefentegnieke aanmoedig in ’n era waarin ekonomiese tye moeilik is.Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2011.Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciencesunrestricte

THE IMPACT OF EXTREME STORM WAVES AT THE COAST; THE ROLE OF INFRAGRAVITY WAVES

Infragravity (IG) waves are long period waves with frequencies lower than wind-waves and swell, usually in the frequency band 0.003 to 0.05 Hz. IG waves are known to dominate hydrodynamic and sediment transport processes close to the shoreline on low sloping sandy beaches, especially when the incoming swell and wind-driven waves (incident waves) are large. However, in extreme wave conditions, how their importance varies on coarser grain sized and steeper beaches, and with different mixes of incoming swell and wind-waves, is largely unknown. Here, a new dataset comprising in-situ and remote observations from five contrasting sites (one low-sloping sandy beach, two steep gravel beaches and two compound/mixed sand and gravel beaches), under extreme wave conditions is used to assess infragravity response across a wider range of wave heights & periods, beach slopes and grain sizes than has been previously explored. The beaches studied ranged in slope from tanβ = 0.02 – 0.35 with median grain sizes (D50) of between 0.25 – 60 mm. During the experiments significant wave heights (Hs) of up to 7 m and peak periods (Tp) up to 20 s were observed. During the five storms recorded, waves in excess of the 95th percentile of the long-term record of Hs were observed at all sites, with waves representative of a 1-in-1, 1-in-5, 1-in-10, 1-in-20 and 1-in-40 year event at the five sites respectively. Video observations of a 1-in-40 year storm, ‘Emma’, impacting a steep gravel beach revealed that significant infragravity swash height (Sig) dominated over significant gravity swash height (Sg) at the shoreline when offshore wave height (H0) exceeded 1.5 m, where ‘dominance’ was defined by the ratio of Sig/Sg exceeding 1. Sig increased linearly with offshore wave height (H0), as has been reported in previously published field work on sandy beaches. However, for a given wave height, Sig was between one third and three times larger on the steep gravel beach than values quoted in the literature for sandy beaches. Observations collected on the steep gravel beach during storm ‘Emma’ were compared to data collected at an additional four sites (a low-sloping sandy beach, a second steeper gravel beach and two compound/mixed sand and gravel beaches). Sig at the shoreline in excess of 0.5 m was consistently observed at all five contrasting beaches. The largest infragravity swash heights were observed at the steeper gravel beach (Sig up to 11.4 m), followed by the low-sloping sandy beach (Sig up to 3.2 m), and the less steep gravel beach (Sig up to 2.6 m) and were lowest at the compound/mixed sites. Due to contrasting incident wave breaking and dissipation processes, infragravity frequencies were observed to be most dominant over gravity frequencies on the low-sloping sandy beach (Sig/Sg up to 4.4), occasionally dominant on the gravel beaches (Sig/Sg up to 2.5), and rarely dominant on the compound/mixed beaches (Sig/Sg up to 1.1). An existing equation commonly used to parameterize Sig on sandy beaches was tested on the new dataset, performing well on data from the sandy beach but less well on data from the gravel beach. An existing equation commonly used to parametrize runup on gravel beaches was modified to produce a new gravel specific parametrization of Sig, which performed well on the gravel sites and less well on the sandy site. Both equations performed poorly when applied to the dataset combining sand and gravel beaches. H02T, proportional to deep water wave power, was found to accurately predict Sig on both the sand and gravel beaches, demonstrating that, under extreme storm wave conditions, combined wave height and period are the main drivers of infragravity oscillations at the shoreline, with the beach morphology playing a secondary role. In-situ observations were collected seaward of the incident wave breakpoint by bed-mounted acoustic Doppler current profilers and through the surf zone by intertidal arrays of pressure transducers at two of the five sites (the low-sloping sandy beach and the less steep of the two gravel beaches). Analysis revealed that energy transferred to the IG band seaward of the surf zone at the sandy beach and landward of breakpoint at the gravel beach. The surf beat similarity parameter (ξSurfbeat) indicated that bound long wave release was the dominant IG wave generating mechanism on the low sloping sandy beach (ξSurfbeat 0.1). The findings presented in this thesis highlight the importance of collecting field data over a wide range of conditions. When deep water significant wave height (H0) exceeds 2 m, IG energy dominates the inner surf zone and swash on both sand and gravel beaches. Therefore, in addition to their well-known importance on sandy sites, infragravity waves are also implicated in the inundation and erosion of gravel beaches during storms