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Item Open Access The medieval construct of demonic evil: an inverted incarnation(University of the Free State, 2007) Raftery, MargaretEnglish: This article explores the concept of inversion as an essential ingredient in the medieval understanding of Good and Evil. It argues that demonic evil is often, but here specifically in the Dutch rederijker drama Mariken van Nieumeghen, constructed and represented as an inversion of the incarnation of Christ. Christ is the true Logos, or Word, made flesh, offering love and reconciliation, teaching knowledge of the Father, and bringing salvation; the drama’s Moenen is the devil disguised in scholarly garb, offering Mariken wealth and pleasure as well as to teach her all languages and the seven liberal arts, b ut leading her ultimately to damnation. The inversion technique is structural in a further sense, as Mariken’s initiation into the world of evil is analysed as involving a series of inversions of the Catholic sacraments, all of which were either instituted by Christ or founded on the Church’s interpretation of events during his incarnation. Issues of power (including gendered power) attendant upon the dichotomy of inversion of the forces of Good and Evil in the play are also discussed.Item Open Access Proven researchers’ perceptions of influences on academics’ research output: a case study(University of the Free State, 2008) Schulze, Salomé; Gouws, EldrieEnglish: This article reports on the perceptions of a group of proven researchers at a higher education institution on various aspects of research. The aim was to make recommendations on how the research output of academics may be improved. Wenger’s theory of learning in communities of practice was used as the theoretical framework. The approach was qualitative, by means of a case study design. Data was gathered mainly by means of interviews and document analysis. The findings indicate that individual motivation plays a significant role. However, communities of practice also play a role in stimulating the research development of novices and experienced researchers. Institutional support for learning systems can foster optimal participation in research communities.Item Open Access Biracial identity: more than just Black and White(University of the Free State, 2008) Francis, DennisEnglish: This article draws on the insights of research on nine Indian-White biracial young adults to consider how they interpret their social reality. Life-history research was used to discover the complexities that make up the participants’ everyday lives and to understand what they believe about themselves. The key findings reveal that the participants’ struggles with identity indicate the complexity of identity, but those struggles are not always related to race. Their descriptions of their identity formation reveal an ongoing dialectical process that involved the making of choices amongst various social identities as they moved from one circumstance to another.Item Open Access Complexity, postmodernism and the bioethical dilemma(University of the Free State, 2008) De Roubaix, Malcom; Cilliers, PaulEnglish: This article examines the implications of a postmodern ethics for bioethical problems. Traditional approaches to bioethics, with specific reference to “principlism”, depend on a modernist strategy which attempts to produce generalised solutions. Making use of complexity theory, it is shown that the factors specific to each instance cannot be reduced in an objective way. The contingency of each individual case has to be considered. This leads to an ethics which cannot be the result of following universal rules, but one that has to accept the responsibility for the outcome of our decisions, even if these outcomes are not fully predictable. The responsibility for our choices cannot be shifted onto some a priori principle.Item Open Access Kosgangers se ervarings van bullebakkery: ’n gevallestudie(University of the Free State, 2008) De Wet, Corene; Jacobs, LynetteEnglish: Despite the many portrayals of bullying at school hostels in biographies, autobiographies, youth and adult fiction, and films, very few research publications deal with violence in general, and bullying in particular, at hostels. The aim of this case study was to address this gap in the South African literature on bullying. This article will report the results of an investigation in 2006 to determine the experiences, observations and perceptions of learners boarding at an Eastern Cape school hostel in relation to the nature and extent of bullying.Item Open Access Factors related to throughput in final-year Statistics(University of the Free State, 2008) Latief, Abduraghiem; Blignaut, RenetteEnglish: This article reports on the results of a study examining factors related to throughput at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa between 1975 and 2001. The students in the study all registered for at least one semester of Statistics in their final year. Throughput is defined as the number of years taken by a student to complete an undergraduate degree and is described in terms of the following factors: Grade 12 aggregate, home language and Grade 12 Mathematics result. The study adopted a quantitative approach and used historical student records. The most significant factor was found to be the Grade 12 aggregate. It is therefore suggested that the Grade 12 aggregate be retained as a selection criterion for higher education studies.Item Open Access The stability of test design: measuring differences in performance across several administrations of an academic literacy test(University of the Free State, 2008) Weideman, Albert; Van der Slik, FransEnglish: This study explores the stability or consistency across several administrations of a test designed to determine academic literacy levels. The reliability of two versions (one English, the other Afrikaans) of such a test used for placement purposes at three South African universities will first be analysed. Secondly, the number of potential misclassifications on the test is assessed (ie the extent to which the test does not measure fairly). Thirdly, the differences among the results of the various administrations of the test are explored, with a view to establishing whether such differences are both significant and relevant.Item Open Access A perspective on university academic workload measurement(University of the Free State, 2008) Cawood, Fred; Yilmaz, Halil; Musingwini, Cuthbert; Razinchenko, GalinaEnglish: Internationally, universities are increasingly seen as being part of the wider community, which has an impact on academic workload. This paper explains the importance of a model for investigating such academic workloads. Quantifying and reporting workloads are complex tasks. Despite this complexity, the model developed at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Mining Engineering gives some insight into the three main components of academic workload, namely lecturing, research and administrative services. Today there is a better understanding of the meaning of workload, the problems to consider when quantifying workloads, the relationship between workload and performance and the issues to consider for staff development. This perspective concludes with lessons learnt over a five-year period.Item Open Access HIV/AIDS and modernity in Africa: a philosophical perspective(University of the Free State, 2008) Cloete, MichaelEnglish: HIV/AIDS poses the greatest threat to human life in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the general awareness of the various modes of HIV-transmission has increased significantly over the past few years, the continuing threat of this deadly disease seems to be unstoppable. To make matters worse, our understanding of HIV/AIDS has been dominated by Western philosophical discourses that somehow question Africa’s ability to understand fully the serious nature and extent of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This article addresses the possibility of Africa’s right to life from the perspective of the philosophical discourse of modernity in Africa.Item Open Access Taalvermoë en originariteit(University of the Free State, 2008) Peeters, LeopoldEnglish: Language is not to be found in dictionaries or theories, but in speech itself. My quest is to understand what happens in speech. Language is not merely a means of communication but the manner in which one becomes oneself in one’s own body. Language is a means to self-realisation and thus to originarity. This position is argued by tracing a path via the speech events, the subject, poetry as originary speech, the philosophy of language, the complexity of language as a phenomenon, dualism and its origin, the living body as a victory over dualism, and the voice — to human understanding.Item Open Access Suid-Afrika se internasionale norm-entrepreneurskap(University of the Free State, 2008) Geldenhuys, DoenEnglish: The ambitious foreign policy that democratic South Africa has pursued since 1994 contains a strong element of international norm-entrepreneurship. This largely selfimposed undertaking can involve a set of related tasks: upholding, formulating, promoting and enforcing internationally accepted norms of state conduct. South Africa has indeed taken up all four responsibilities. The country has established an exemplary record in respecting universal norms both domestically and in its foreign relations. South Africa features prominently as a norm formulator in multilateral forums, especially in Africa. The missionary zeal with which the new South Africa had originally promoted norms abroad has, however, been tempered by a pragmatism that tends to favour money over morality. The Republic has shown even less enthusiasm for norm enforcement. Contentious international issues like Zimbabwe and Myanmar revealed inconsistencies and prevarication in South Africa’s norm entrepreneurship. Instead of watering down its initiatives even further, South Africa ought to embark on a more robust form of norm entrepreneurship abroad.Item Open Access A model to increase teacher self-efficacy(University of the Free State, 2008) Wood, Lesley; Olivier, TillaEnglish: This article outlines an attempt to help teachers to become more effective role models and instructors of life skills via the development of a self-efficacy model. The model is founded on the premise that teachers first have to believe in their own ability to effectively cope with life’s challenges before they can teach learners to do so. Based on a theory-generative research design, the model proposes to promote teachers’ self-efficacy by initiating and facilitating four simultaneous processes within the framework of continuous reflective practice, namely intrinsic growth, the development of an internal locus of control, and interaction with the environment.Item Open Access The development and relevance of the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, adjustment and adaptation(University of the Free State, 2008) Brown-Baatjies, Ottilia; Fouché, Paul; Greeff, AwieEnglish: The study of family resilience has gained momentum within the field of family psychology over the last two decades. This paper focuses on the development of the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, which has a long history and is substantiated by research dating back to 1946. The factors comprising the model have been empirically tested, and related measuring instruments have been developed in order to evaluate resiliency factors within the family context. Each of the Resiliency Model’s antecedent models is outlined here, while its potential relevance to the South African context is also debated.Item Open Access South African household expenditure patterns: alcohol products in 1995 and 2000(University of the Free State, 2008) Ground, Marc; Koch, Steven; Van Wyk, DylanEnglish: This research examines differences in household expenditure on alcohol between 1995 and 2000, the most recent years for which data is publicly available. The analysis reveals that both real expenditure on all alcohol products and the number of households purchasing alcoholic beverages have declined. However, it also shows a general decrease in total expenditure in all households, partly due to the change between 1995 and 2000 in the demographic and socio-economic structure of the households surveyed. Alcohol expenditure, particularly in better-off households, dropped by less than total expenditure, leading to an increase in the share of household expenditure allocated to alcoholic beverage purchases.Item Open Access ‘New fatherhood’ - fact or fiction? The perceptions and experiences of fathers in South Africa(University of the Free State, 2008) Smit, RiaEnglish: During the past two decades, fatherhood has become an increasingly important issue, not only in scholarly debates but also in popular forums in South Africa. This article reports on some findings of a quantitative study, undertaken in the Gauteng province of South Africa, that aimed to shed light on the extent to which men are embracing the “new fatherhood” culture and have become active, nurturant fathers. Although men are becoming more actively involved in child-care, many still find it difficult to manifest high levels of active fatherly involvement, even if they consider it fair to expect a man to perform active father work and define fatherhood as synonymous with nurturant paternal involvement. The research results also indicate the existence of a positive correlation between a man’s perception of his paternal involvement and his experience of marital quality.Item Open Access Die swart Afrikaanse vroueskrywer (1995-2007): nog steeds ’n literêre minderheid binne ’n demokratiese bestel?(University of the Free State, 2008) Cochrane, NeilEnglish: During the last decade of the twentieth century, two novels by black Afrikaans women writers, Frieda Gygenaar and E K M Dido, were published by mainstream publishers. Since then, the position of black women writers within the Afrikaans literary system has improved significantly. This article investigates the literary production of black Afrikaans women writers over the last twelve years, providing a quantitative and descriptive overview of their literary output. It also discusses the important challenges facing contemporary black Afrikaans women writers: limitations in terms of thematic variety and multidimensional perspectives as well as the lack of literary role-models, a tradition and canonical status. Finally, certain conclusions are drawn about the current and future literary status of black Afrikaans women writers.Item Open Access The ethics of responsibility: the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas(University of the Free State, 2008) Van der Merwe, Willie; De Voss, VidaEnglish: Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics is based on the Other/other. He argues that we are in an asymmetrical relationship with our neighbour that pre-destines us to ethical responsibility even before consciousness or choice. In the face-to-face encounter an infinity and alterity about our neighbour is revealed, which is irreducible to our ontological grasp, and thereby compels us to respond to him. It is also through this relation that our humanity is released as our solipsistic “all-for-myself” becomes a “being-for-the-other”. Furthermore, the “I” is irreplaceable, thereby making each of us ethically responsible for our neighbour, even to the point of responsibility for his material misery. This paper introduces and, in the main, supports this idea of Levinas’s.