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Theses and dissertations (Management Sciences)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/14

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    Educating secondary school learners on nonviolence using a transformative approach to reduce violence in a Zimbabwean secondary school
    (2023-04) Moyo, Dorothy; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas
    Zimbabwe is facing increased violence by and against learners at institutions of learning. As part of efforts to reduce school violence, this study sought to educate learners on non-violence, using a transformative approach to learning. The aim of the study was to build a culture of peace at the school of study. To achieve this, the study used a participatory action research approach to address the problem and find solutions. The study was informed by Lederach’s Conflict Transformation theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory. Twenty-four learners and four teachers were purposively sampled to participate in the study. Data was collected using questionnaires administered at the beginning of the study to 274 learners and 20 teachers. In addition, focus group discussions, interviews and observations were used to collect data. Working with participants, an intervention to address the problem was planned, implemented and evaluated. The intervention that was put in place was a peace club. Experiential learning was the pedagogy used by the peace club. To reinforce peace club learning peace club members attended a two-day workshop on conflict resolution and transformation. Quantitative data was analysed using percentages and reported in graphs and tables. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis and reported in narrative form with the use of thick descriptions. The study was evaluated for short term outcomes and the finding of the study revealed that learners can be taught non-violent ways of resolving conflict. The main reason learners resort to violence as a way of resolving conflict is because they have not been taught non-violent alternative methods. Learners are brought up in violent settings, at home, school and wider community and as they develop, they learn that violence is a means to an end and the only way of resolving conflict. Since violence is learnt, it can also be unlearnt
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    Developing and testing new interventions to prevent violent service delivery protest in South Africa
    (2020-11) Zimuto, Prince Charles; Kaye, Sylvia Blanche; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas
    Previous studies on violent service delivery protests in South Africa are mainly concerned with the causes of violent service delivery protests. Investigating the causes of violence alone in order to map out violence prevention strategies is a narrow approach to the problem of violence.
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    Building a culture of peace and nonviolence : enhancing Shona Traditional Court Systems
    (2022-03) Makore, Brian Tazvitya; Kaye, Sylvia Blanche; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas
    In traditional Shona culture, as in other Ubuntu societies, gender roles are given and traditional leaders have no other way of knowing than hegemonic discourses which draw on dominant cultural, traditional and religious value systems which produce patriarchal norms and rules of behavior that are internalized as beliefs and customs. Without conscientisation, Shona traditional leaders remain bonded to the hegemonic construction of traditional masculinities and contrary to their peacebuilding role, they may unconsciously participate in the oppression of women and other vulnerable groups who may not belong to the dominant cultural groups. The problem forms the major motivation behind the study which aimed to train a critical mass of Shona traditional leaders in Ward 3 and Ward 11 of Murehwa District under Chief Mangwende in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe for transformation into gendersensitive active nonviolent role models. Through a participatory action research design, Kemmis et al. (2014), the thesis developed and tested an integrated framework for the analysis and design of a discursive intervention in oppressive gender relations. The analytical framework was informed theoretically by Connell and Messerschmidt’s (2005) concept of hegemonic masculinities and Bell’s (2013) four I’s of oppression and methodologically by Fairclough’s (2013) dialectical relational approach. The action framework was informed theoretically by Bajaj’s (2019) critical peace education (CPE) and methodologically Freire’s (1964, 2005) transformative learning. At the philosophical level, the study combined Bhaskar’s (1979, 2016) transformational model of social activity, (TMSA) and applied this to European Commission’s (2013) definition of gender education (GE) to develop a transformational model of peace education (TMPE) which I shall term, gender transformative education (GTE) Furthermore, the study combined Connell and Messerschmidt’s (2005) concept of hegemonic masculinities, Freire’s (2005) transformative learning and Kolb’s (1983) learning cycle to develop the attendant learning cycle which I shall term critical masculinities learning cycle (CMLC). The models explicitly identified conditions in which traditional Shona masculinities were not be compatible with peace and justice and, simultaneously, the possibility for transforming gender relations in traditional Shona culture. As regards peace research, a key innovation of the study was to critique some of the premises and the constructs underpinning mainstream studies in gender, violence and peacebuilding and the need of these sub-disciplines to constantly reflect on issues of hegemony and ideology in a historically and dynamically informed manner, while at the same time insisting on action to transform asymmetrical gender power relations. A gender training manual has been produced from the findings of the study: it is intended to serve as a template for traditional leaders to acquire gender transformative values and knowledge and to develop gender transformative skills and attitudes that are necessary conditions to live in harmony with themselves, others and their environments.
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    Building capacity in the development and implementation of nonviolent campaigns in South Sudan
    (2021-05) John, Moses; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas; Kaye, Sylvia Blanche
    Civil society’s role and influence in peacebuilding has increasingly been recognized globally. As such, substantive attention has been given towards strengthening civil society capacities, especially in countries experiencing protracted conflicts. This thesis focuses on building the capacity of civil society in the development and implementation of nonviolent campaigns to transform socio-economic and political conflicts in South Sudan. Despite, limited civic space, repression from local authorities and challenges of limited capacity, South Sudanese have demonstrated their audacity to challenge entrenched power and that they are by no means a passive people. The study establishes that the civil society, employees of public and private sectors have on several occasions implemented the techniques of nonviolence. However, South Sudanese campaigns lack strategic focus, have not been sequenced, carried out systematically and in coordinated manner to change the worsening political, economic and social conditions. Following an action research approach, qualitative data was gathered using focus group discussions, interviews, questionnaires and structured observations. This was used to develop a nonviolent action training curriculum and the subsequent training of 24 participants. The short-term outcomes of this study indicate that the action research participants not only learned together, shared information and established sustainable networks, but also used tactics of peaceful marches, petitions, press statements, sit-ins, political non-cooperation and other forms of nonviolent campaigns to advance social, political, and economic change. The study concludes in that supporting civil society with technical skills, knowledge in nonviolent campaigning and coherent peacebuilding and financial resources is critical for building safe, democratic and prosperous country. The CSOs also need to focus on building social and political conscience of society’s members to value, appreciate and consider nonviolent responses to conflicts in order to reduce the culture of violent insurrection in South Sudan.
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    Participation of young mothers in peace building : an action research study of Cato Manor, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    (2019-05-03) Nyamapfene, Gift Tanyaradzwa; Pillay, S.S.
    The purpose of this study was to investigate the participation of young mothers in peace building in Cato Manor, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The research aimed to explain how young mothers in Cato Manor could use peace-building methods to promote non-violence in their community. An investigation into the underlying causes of violence in Cato Manor was carried out in order to understand how young mothers could position themselves in the community to create a non-violent community. The study was qualitative in nature and it employed an action research design. The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) approach was examined to explore its potential as an instrument which young mothers in Cato Manor can use. The study reviewed literature on the history of violence in Cato Manor; the contemporary violence in the community; the peace theories that could be applied to such a community and then detailed the Alternatives to Violence Project and its relevance to this research. Purposive sampling was used to extract 15 young mothers from the total population. The 15 young mothers participated in the Alternatives to Violence Project where data was collected. The data collected was analysed using thematic analysis. The salient findings of the study showed a positive reception by the young mothers to training on non-violence. Findings showed that the young mothers acknowledged that the skills that they learnt from the training would be vital in their daily lives and confirmed that they had gained some foundation to start building a non-violent environment in their community. Recommendations were made including the continuation of broader and inclusive AVP training in Cato Manor.
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    Building the capacity of young South African men in responsible, loving and nonviolent fathering
    (2016) Kunsikila, Diaku Dianzenza; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas; Kaye, Sylvia
    The majority of South African children are growing up in households where the father is dead or absent. As a result, unless there is some other father figure in their lives, they do not experience fathering directly and so have a limited education in what it means to be a father. Given the extent of violence of various forms throughout the country, there is an urgent need to bring up children who are educated in values such as nonviolence and who will model and impart such values to their own children. The overall aim of this research is to investigate how to build the capacity of young men to be responsible, loving and nonviolent fathers. The research design included three components (exploration of the experiences and attitudes of young men regarding their own fathers), action research (in the form of devising a training programme in responsible, loving and nonviolent fathering, and implementing it with three groups of young men) and evaluation (of the effects of the training on attitudes which, it is hoped, will translate into positive fathering behaviour in the longer term). The short term outcome of the training indicates that changes in attitude in positive directions did take place for a significant minority of the trainees and suggests that training programmes of this type can be socially beneficial.