Browsing by Subject "Social Planning and Administration"

Now showing 1 - 12 of 12
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    An approach to programme evaluation in human services organisations : a case study
    (1993) Meston, Andrew; Smit, Andre de V
    This study examines the issue of programme evaluation and places it within the context of the Western Cape region of Operation Hunger. Data for this study was collected over a six month period of participant observation at Operation Hunger, during which time a programme evaluation model was developed and implemented. The focus of this study is not so much the evaluation model which was developed, but rather how the model developed from the theory of illuminative evaluation to the Operation Hunger Evaluation Model. In discussing and exploring this process several strands are developed. A central theme is that it is not possible to transpose theory and experience from one context to another without firstly understanding the historical specificity within which programme evaluation developed and secondly, understanding the historical context in which it is to be applied. A second strand identifies five possible evaluation approaches for use in the South African context and applies a model useful in choosing theoretical evaluation approaches for the purposes of application. A final aspect of this study indicates how the theory of the illuminative approach was interpreted and developed into the practice of the Operation Hunger Evaluation Model.
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    Citizen participation : a problem when beneficiaries are not involved in the establishment of a service
    (1988) Gamede, Sibongile Elizabeth; Nghatsane, David M
    There are problems concerning citizen participation in projects especially in the NICRO-Vaal Service. This study reviews participation of community residents in establishing a Welfare Service for crime prevention and rehabilitation of offenders in the Vaal-Triangle Area. Participation is reviewed with special reference to the beneficiaries of the service. The study has al so reviewed the history of citizen participation, as well as the different models and modes of participation in projects. Participation in the NICRO-Vaal Service is divided into two categories. There is participation by community residents who are interested in the project because there has never been a service that was specifically concentrating on prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families and crime-prevention programmes in the area. These community residents have been receiving guidance from the National Council for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of Offenders. They formed a committee which is still administering NICRO Services in the area. The second category of participation, is participation by the beneficiaries of the service. Service beneficiaries have been attending all meetings where they were invited by the committee. They endorsed the committee's activities, but they have never been actively involved in NICRO Services. This became clear when the transport services that were organized for the families of prisoners, were administered at a loss. This is indicating that there is "limited" participation from the beneficiaries' si.de. They are still not active in NICRO Services in general. The hypothesis in this study is, "A Service that 1S established without the beneficiaries' involvement is consequently weakened". Both primary and secondary resources of information are used. The information pertaining to the history of the project was obtained from the records of the National Council for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of Offenders (NICRO) and the Minutes of the NICRO-Vaal Services Committee. Information from the beneficiaries of the service was obtained by administering an interview schedule to families of prisoners. The study's hypothesis has been confirmed. The study concludes by proposing an alternative model of participation. Human service organizers will benefit from the study's findings by learning different strategies and modes of starting a project.
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    Community development : a quest for social change or social submission : (towards a model of change for South Africa)
    (1988) Van Heerden, Debbie; Wentzel, Wilfred
    The thesis attempts to address the dubious statement of conventional community development that the approach is neutral. The central question asked was 'Is community development a value neutral approach established to meet the needs of communities or does it have another function?' Arguing that no approach that deals with people and which was specifically formulated by persons in a definite ideological context can be neutral, the author then sets about proving that the community development approach is closely aligned to the conservative structural functionalist perspective. An analysis was made of the central tenets of the structural functionalist position and central themes of community development examined as to the basis of their assumptions. It became obvious that a very close correlation exists between the community development approach and the structural functionalist position. Once this had been established the broader ramifications of working within this theoretical position were explored. A number of observations were made in this regard. It was argued that community development could never achieve its goals while working within this framework as it failed to address the real structural problems in society. In supporting the existing social order, the emphasis is shifted away from society as a cause of problems and emphasis, incorrectly, placed on individual communities. Persons are thus expected to find solutions to problems they had no part in causing. Thus, within a South African context, a status quo is supported which propagates inequality, injustice and social deprivation. It was then argued that an alternate approach should be sought which addresses the fundamental social problems. A starting point for this approach could be an acceptance on the part of the community development approach of its inherent political nature and clarification as to how this effects the approach. It was suggested that in the South African context exponents should take their lead from the oppressed communities and their expression of need. One such pointer was the Freedom Charter which was drawn up in 1955 by a democratic grouping of the population. In order to give substance to the theoretical argument the arguments were focussed on a rural South African community where research was conducted.
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    A comparative global study of the impact that information and web technologies have on the sustainability and growth potential of nonprofit organisations in developed and developing countries
    (2010) Kanithi, Naveen; Smit, Andre de V
    This study aimed to explore the level and nature of information and web technology usage by nonprofit organisations (NPOs) around the globe and how these related to the operations, sustainability and future growth of these organisations.
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    Gender and work challenges in the informal sector of Uganda : a study of disabled men and women in Mubende and Mityana districts
    (2007) Lwemamu, Helen; Booyens, Margaret
    Compared to disciplines like gender and health, fewer studies have been done on disabled men and women's participation in the informal sector. This may be explained by the fact that for a long time, few disabled men and women in Uganda engaged or participated openly in income generating activities (IGAs). Many started getting involved in the 1990's and as the available literature shows, those who have done so are very enthusiastic and this has encouraged others. This study focuses on the gender and work challenges disabled men and women encounter in the informal sector of Uganda. The study is based on a review of existing literature and actual fieldwork carried out in the Mubende and Mityana districts of Uganda. It seeks to: (a) explore the types of business activities in which disabled men and women are engaged; (b) explore the nature of work challenges disabled men and women encounter in the informal sector and the nature of strategies they utilize to overcome these challenges; (c) ascertain the benefits that disabled men and women have gained in respect of participation in the informal sector; (d) establish the policies and laws that govern disabled men and women with regard to their work in the informal sector; and (e) establish how resources are allocated by various governmental and nongovernmental Organisations among disabled men and women in Mubende and Mityana districts. The study was carried out in Mubende and Mityana district, the central region of the densely populated disabled men and women. In this study in-depth interviews and focus group methods were used to collect qualitative data. Evidence from the study confirms that disabled men and women were engaged in similar IGAs although a few of them were engaged in different IGAs. The similarity in IGAs was likely to be a result of the limited range of IGAs that disabled men and women could engage in considering the nature of their impairments, limited finances and the limited skills that they had. The visually and hearing impaired men and women were mainly involved in a single IGA in the informal sector and most of the physically disabled men and women were engaged in multiple IGAs. This was linked to visually and hearing impaired men and women lacking or having insufficient capital and skills to engage in multiple IGAs, as compared to physically disabled men and women.
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    An investigation into Kwa Mashu Family and Child Welfare Society as it interacts with other organisations in the provisions of welfare services
    (1992) Gulube, Thokozile Maureen; Tshabalala, Mandla; Nghatsane, David M
    The study investigates Kwa Mashu Family and Child Welfare Society, a welfare organization providing child welfare services to the community of Kwa Mashu. This organization interacts with other organizations that serve the interests of the child. The study investigates the Kwa Mashu Family and Child Welfare Society as it interacts with other organizations in the provision of Child Welfare Services. The study was motivated by the earnest desire of the organization to find out from the community of Kwa Mashu how the latter views the society in the midst of changing circumstances within the Township. The study is descriptive and exploratory, it explores and describes the child welfare field. It addresses the development of this field and demonstrates how the political priorities affected child welfare provision in South Africa. The study also gives a brief profile of Kwa Mashu Township in which the society operates. In the analysis of Kwa Mashu Family and Child Welfare Society special attention is given to the structure of the organization and the channels of communication within the organization and between the organization and the community. The study investigates the views and opinions of 50 community organizations operating within Kwa Mashu. The study discovered that these organizations had a variety of views about Kwa Mashu Family and Child Welfare Society. The major discovery was that although the community organizations are aware of Kwa Mashu Family and Child Welfare Society they are unaware of the services offered.
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    Life skills for adolescence : evaluative research on the Quest programme
    (1995) Sliedrecht, Susan Beverley; Tshabalala, Mandla
    The Quest Life Skills for Adolescence is a two-year programme, for Standard 6 and 7 pupils. The goal of the programme is to assist adolescents to effectively manage the life tasks associated with the adolescent years. The programme is school based consisting of eight modules, each module dealing with a different subject. The method of instruction, as with most life skills programmes, is participatory learning as opposed to didactic teaching. This pilot-study was based at the Sentinel High School in Hout Bay. The study evaluates whether module one and two of the Quest Life Skills programme achieved their objectives. The second purpose was to devise an evaluation tool that could be used by other schools to evaluate modules one and two of the Quest programme. A multifaceted study design was adopted in the evaluation process. The instruments used were questionnaires, group discussions, Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (1965) and a game. The results reveal that module one of the programme did enable pupils to gain a better understanding of adolescence. Pupils were, however, not totally conversant with the four aspects of change that would take place in adolescence namely physical, emotional, social and intellectual change. They seemed more familiar with the changes that would take place in the physical and emotional realms than in the intellectual and social realms. The findings confirmed that a safe supportive environment, conducive to learning, had been established. Module two of the programme dealt with self-confidence/self-esteem. The self-esteem of participant's, in the Quest programme, increased marginally, but the results yielded showed that a statistically significant improvement did not take place when compared with the comparative group. Participants reported that the programme was of great benefit to them. It was the first time for the majority of the participants that they had been exposed to life skills training. Based on the above findings, an evaluation package was compiled, for schools to use, to evaluate the effectiveness of the first two modules of the Quest programme.
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    Provincial Government of the Western Cape : senior management perceptions of their social-structural and psychological empowerment in the workplace
    (2013) Orgill, Jade; Smit, André de V
    The South African work place is a dynamic one. All sectors are Iegislatively obligated to ensure that groups marginaIized p re-1994 are developed and fast-tracked into positions that would ensure greater representivity of the population. The result of this inclusive process has been that the Provincial Government of the Western Cape's working context is diverse with respect to gender and race bringing with it a myriad of cultures and so meaning into the workplace. Considering the context of workplace empowerment the researcher endeavoured to explore the perceptions senior managers of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape had on their psychological and social-structural empowerment using Sprietzer ( 199S) and Kanter's ( 199 3) em power ment principles in combination as a theoretical framework. A quantitative research design was chosen to reach a large sample and the total population comprised 1 622 senior managers selected using a probabiIity sampIing methodology. High representivity was gained across all twelve departments of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape which included Senior Management Service designations as well as junior level management from saIary levels 9 through to 16. The researcher expanded the provincial government's definition of senior management to include junior management to ensure a valid and comprehensive dataset which included women. Using a 5 point Likert structured questionnaire, the entire sample received an email link to the electronic survey and a 17.3% response rate meant that 281 senior managers completed the survey.
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    The role of corporate social investment in supporting early childhood development in South Africa
    (2013) Van Niekerk, Lauren-Jayne; Smit, Andre de V
    This research study, The Role of Corporate Social Investment in Supporting Early Childhood Development in South Africa, explored the role of and the degree to which, corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives in South Africa support early childhood development (ECD). Trends of CSI expenditure in ECD over time were examined, as well as the motivations for investment in the ECD sector. A key intention of this study was to establish the benefits of corporate investment in the ECD sector, and to discover how the ECD sector can tap into more CSI funding in the future. This study adopted a quantitative methodology and made use of an online survey tool (SurveyGizmo) to gather information from both the CSI and ECD Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) sectors in South Africa. The sample populations consisted of CSI initiatives of 500 of South Africa's best managed companies from the TOPCO Media: Top500 publication, and 62 ECD NPOs in South Africa from a database developed by one of the leading ECD NPOs in South Africa, Centre for Early Childhood Development (Atmore, 2012).
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    The state of fundraising within the nonprofit social service sector : a study to determine how and to what levels of success South African NPOs are managing and operating their fundraising functions
    (2010) Kilbey, Brian; Smit, Andre de V
    This study sought analyse the state of fundraising within the South African nonprofit social service sector at the end of the 2007/2008 financial year. The overall aim of the study was to evaluate the fundraising capacities of social service organisations, in order to ascertain whether organisations were proficient in their fundraising-related activities.
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    A study of organisations and their responses to the social needs of Mbekweni
    (1989) Crawford, Margaret Jane; Nghatsane, David M
    This study examines Human Service Organisations and community organisations operating in Mbekweni during the period January to June 1988. These organisations were examined in order to identify the characteristics that distinguish them from each other in as far as service delivery is concerned. The community based organisations were found to be orientated towards mutual-aid and self-help model whilst the Human Service organisations were orientated towards the service model. This study will also highlight the complex nature of Mbekweni which has been approached by different organisations delivering social services. An integrated developmental model is proposed that could form the basis for private voluntary human service organisations. The model is based on: the participation by beneficiaries of services being involved in the decision making process; and the client of this approach being the group or community. The delivery of services would take place in and by groups. An important element in the model would be the inclusion of trained Developmental Workers who would act as enablers, facilitators, educators and resource persons. This model will emphasise factors that could be incorporated in the designing, planning and administration of private voluntary human service organisations operating in black urbanising communities.
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    Towards a model for social welfare policy formulation in KwaZulu
    (1988) Neku, Ruby Junior Ntombinini; Tshabalala, Mandla
    The study set out to establish the extent to which the needs of Community's were taken into consideration in the formulation of Social Welfare Policy. The Structure in the Government service is such that Policy's are formulated by top management. Top management in the Government Service is constituted by the Ministry. When the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly sits the Minister at one of these sessions delivers the policy speech. This policy is disseminated to the Community through the Department's Secretary by the Civil Servants. As Social Workers are concerned in their delivery of Social Welfare Services about minimising problematic situations, the study will examine the role played by Social Workers in the formulation of Social Welfare Policy. The involvement of Social Workers in policy formulation is seen as a helpful tool in enabling them to play the advocacy role. Their contribution would enable the policy formulation to have an idea about issues that policy must address.