Browsing by Author "Lees, James"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
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    Attitudes and beliefs around HIV and AIDS stigma: the impact of the film "The sky in her eyes"
    (University of the Western Cape, 2005) Lesko, Igor; Lees, James; Michael, Cheryl Ann; Institute for Social Development; Faculty of Arts
    This research explored cultural perceptions of HIV & AIDS with students at the University of the Western Cape and attempted to understand how these perceptions of the disease reinforce stigma and stigmatising attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS. This study investigated HIV/AIDS stigma as a social phenomenon and analysed the socio-cultural and historical roots of HIV/AIDS stigma.
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    Blaming the others: refugee men and HIV risk in Cape Town
    (University of the Western Cape, 2006) Iboko, Ngidiwe; Lees, James; Gibson, Diana; Institute for Social Development; Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences
    This study investigated the societal perception of refugee men as being a risk group, being polluted and the consequent risk of HIV infection they might face. It also determined the factors that could expose them to the risk of HIV infection while living in exile in South Africa.
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    Care, caring and coping: attitudes of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and their caregivers towards schooling in a South African Township
    (University of the Western Cape, 2007) Joseph, Vanessa Belinda; Lees, James; Faculty of Education
    In many countries, the scale of poverty, and the alarming number of children now being orphaned by HIV and AIDS, has increased the roles and responsibilities of grandparents as caregivers in their grandchildren's lives. Not only do grandparents have to care for their grandchildren on a daily basis but they also carry the burden of seeing them through school, possibly with the fear that they might not be able to see them achieve all their dreams. This study examined the complex issues surrounding school attendance for orphaned children in Mbekweni, a township in the Western Province, in South Africa. The study explored the relationship between the attitudes of orphaned learners and their caregivers towards education and schooling itself, uncovering the struggles and the strengths of caregivers and orphaned children that directly relate to success or faiolure in school.
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    Finding new coping mechanisms: the impact of HIV and AIDS on women's access to land in Mozambique
    (University of the Western Cape, 2008) Seuane, Sonia Marisa James; Lees, James; Institute for Social Development; Faculty of Arts
    In this full thesis, I explore the impact that HIV and AIDS pandemic is having in the livelihood strategies of rural women in Mozambique. My intention in this work is to highlight the navigation of Mozambican women through this harsh era. I establish a discussion about land as major asset in a poor and mainly agricultural country like Mozambique. And the fact that many scholars and policy makers are concerned about the escalating number of young widows that have had their land and other assets expropriated after the deaths of their husbands, mainly due to the HIV and AIDS pandemic. The convergence of the colonization process, the civil war (that took over 16 years in Mozambique) and the modernization/development process have been systematically trapping women in the interface between traditional and modern social organization. Now, with the spread of HIV and AIDS, young women and children whose only source of subsistence is their land have been losing their traditional rights, and they face the cultural changes brought about by a new social order that does not support them and their children after the death of a husband or father.
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    Location, dislocation and risk for HIV: a case study of refugee adolescents in Zambia
    (University of the Western Cape, 2006) Nanyangwe, Lenganji; Lees, James; Institute for Social Development; Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences
    Refugees are not a new phenomenon and their plight has been felt the world over. Africa continues to see large numbers of people displaced through armed conflict, producing more refugees on the worlds’ most poverty stricken continent than any other. The implications of these displacements of people dislocated from their places of habitual residence create much concern, particularly in the wake of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Such dislocations and displacements imply separation from family and communities, including socio-economic benefits that accrue to them. There is an apparent problem of accessing health services, educational services, sources of livelihood and protection from sexual and emotional abuse. Refugee children and women are said to be the most vulnerable, although until recently adolescents in armed conflict were not considered as a special group of children requiring special attention. The main objective of this research was to investigate levels of risk for HIV among refugee adolescents in Zambia and to determine how location relates to risk. Of particular interest was the difference in risk experienced in rural and urban areas. The researcher’s hypothesis was that refugee adolescents in rural camps of Zambia are at greater risk because they lack adequate sources of income, health, and education in comparison to urban areas. The research was located within two theoretical underpinnings namely the social cognitive theory and the AIDS Risk Reduction Model (ARRM). The theory posits that a reciprocal relationship exists between environmental contexts, personal factors and behavior. The model explains how people change behavior that reduces risk for HIV by changing perceptions on sexual activity and when they enact the knowledge obtained from HIV preventive programmes. The methodology was located within both the qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Qualitative because firstly, the research is a comparative case study and secondly, it is the first time such a study is being conducted. The researcher also made use of the quantitative through the survey and secondary HIV/AIDS statistical data.
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    Perceptions of risk for HIV amongst South African University students : the impact of the MTV film "SHUGA"
    (2011) Lila, Halima; Lees, James
    The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic continue to endanger the lives of many people in the world, particularly in developing countries like South Africa (UNAIDS, 2010). South Africa has the largest percentage of people living with HIV & AIDS in the world, with AIDS continuing to be the leading cause of death(UNAIDS, 2010). Yet, as Svenson et al., (1997), Cain, (2005), Shisana et al., (2009) and Kalichman et al., (2005) argue, in spite of the HIV epidemic, risky sexual behaviour has increased among young people. Problematically, youth in university environments are reported to be uninterested in hearing about HIV, claiming to be tired and bored with the subject (HEAIDS,2010). They think they have sufficient knowledge on HIV transmission and prevention. Regardless of this claim, a high rate of new infections of HIV among youth continues (The South African Department of Basic Education Report, 2010). The main purpose of this study was to assess UWC students’ knowledge about HIV and their attitudes towards it, while investigating the impact of the MTV-produced Shuga film on the students' self-perception of risk and their attitudes toward HIV.The study assesses the value of a follow-up conversation on the film after it is viewed by students. In order to identify respondents' perceptions, the study used a qualitative approach using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions as main instruments and a quantitative approach using questionnaires as a main instrument. The study used a gender-balanced convenience sample of 40 undergraduate and post-graduate students selected from University of Western Cape campus. These respondents were later divided into four focus group discussions guided by semi-structured interviews. The study findings established that although students' knowledge levels were very high for modes of transmission and prevention of HIV, they still had a poor perception of their own risk – a factor noted as a key need in HIV prevention by Douglas Kirby (2011). This study found that, prior to watching the MTV Shuga film, the level of students' awareness of HIV issues as related to their own risk and health was at best inconsistent. While some held accurate knowledge of HIV and understood their own vulnerability, others saw it as someone else's problem and had yet to personalise the disease in a manner that would increase their own awareness of risk. After viewing the MTV Shuga film, study data indicated a reasonable level of positive change in attitudes and risk perception among the 40 students. However, the data clearly indicated that the follow-up discussion sessions provoked more change in the students' attitudes and perceptions of risk than the film on its own. The study therefore suggests the importance of discussion sessions that follow up on edutainment media pieces attempting to promote positive behavioural change vis-à-vis HIV. While the study did not focus in depth on why the follow-up discussion sessions had a higher impact than film-viewing alone, the discussion sessions allowed students to personalise the content of the Shuga film, sharing with each other how they identified with various characters, situations and behaviours. Shuga became 'real' through the personal discussions between students, and the film's intent to prompt positive change was further supported.
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    Perceptions of risk for HIV amongst South African university students: the impact of the MTV film “Shuga”
    (University of the Western Cape, 2012) Lila, Halima; Lees, James
    The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic continue to endanger the lives of many people in the world, particularly in developing countries like South Africa (UNAIDS, 2010). South Africa has the largest percentage of people living with HIV & AIDS in the world, with AIDS continuing to be the leading cause of death(UNAIDS, 2010). Yet, as Svenson et al., (1997), Cain, (2005), Shisana et al., (2009) and Kalichman et al., (2005) argue, in spite of the HIV epidemic, risky sexual behaviour has increased among young people. Problematically, youth in university environments are reported to be uninterested in hearing about HIV, claiming to be tired and bored with the subject (HEAIDS, 2010). They think they have sufficient knowledge on HIV transmission and prevention. Regardless of this claim, a high rate of new infections of HIV among youth continues (The South African Department of Basic Education Report, 2010). The main purpose of this study was to assess UWC students’ knowledge about HIV and their attitudes towards it, while investigating the impact of the MTV-produced Shuga film on the students’ self-perception of risk and their attitudes toward HIV. The study assesses the value of a follow-up conversation on the film after it is viewed by students.In order to identify respondents’ perceptions, the study used a qualitative approach using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions as main instruments and a quantitative approach using questionnaires as a main instrument. The study used a gender-balanced convenience sample of 40 undergraduate and post-graduate students selected from University of Western Cape campus. These respondents were later divided into four focus group discussions guided by semi-structured interviews. The study findings established that although students’ knowledge levels were very high for modes of transmission and prevention of HIV, they still had a poor perception of their own risk – a factor noted as a key need in HIV prevention by Douglas Kirby (2011).This study found that, prior to watching the MTV Shuga film, the level of students’ awareness of HIV issues as related to their own risk and health was at best inconsistent. While some held accurate knowledge of HIV and understood their own vulnerability, others saw it as someone else’s problem and had yet to personalise the disease in a manner that would increase their own awareness of risk. After viewing the MTV Shuga film, study data indicated a reasonable level of positive change in attitudes and risk perception among the 40 students. However, the data clearly indicated that the follow-up discussion sessions provoked more change in the students’ attitudes and perceptions of risk than the film on its own. The study therefore suggests the importance of discussion sessions that follow up on edutainment media pieces attempting to promote positive behavioural change vis-à-vis HIV. While the study did not focus in depth on why the follow-up discussion sessions had a higher impact than film-viewing alone, the discussion sessions allowed students to personalise the content of the Shuga film, sharing with each other how they identified with various characters, situations and behaviours. Shuga became ‘real’ through the personal discussions between students, and the film’s intent to prompt positive change was further supported.
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    Reorienting adolescent sexual and reproductive health research: reflections from an international conference
    (BioMed Central, 2016) Michielsen, Kristien; De Meyer, Sara; Ivanova, Olena; Anderson, Ragnar; Decat, Peter; Herbiet, Céline; Kabiru, Caroline W.; Ketting, Evert; Lees, James
    On December 4th 2014, the International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH) at Ghent University organized an international conference on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) and well-being. This viewpoint highlights two key messages of the conference - 1) ASRH promotion is broadening on different levels and 2) this broadening has important implications for research and interventions – that can guide this research field into the next decade. Adolescent sexuality has long been equated with risk and danger. However, throughout the presentations, it became clear that ASRH and related promotion efforts are broadening on different levels: from risk to well-being, from targeted and individual to comprehensive and structural, from knowledge transfer to innovative tools. However, indicators to measure adolescent sexuality that should accompany this broadening trend, are lacking. While public health related indicators (HIV/STIs, pregnancies) and their behavioral proxies (e.g. condom use, number of partners) are well developed and documented, there is a lack of consensus on indicators for the broader construct of adolescent sexuality, including sexual well-being and aspects of positive sexuality. Furthermore, the debate during the conference clearly indicated that experimental designs may not be the only appropriate study design to measure effectiveness of comprehensive, context-specific and long-term ASRH programmes, and that alternatives need to be identified and applied. Presenters at the conference clearly expressed the need to develop validated tools to measure different sub-constructs of adolescent sexuality and environmental factors. There was a plea to combine (quasi-)experimental effectiveness studies with evaluations of the development and implementation of ASRH promotion initiatives.
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    Sexual diversity and the role of educators on a South African teacher education module
    (Higher Education South Africa (HESA), 2017) Lees, James
    This article is a reflection on a 5-credit, 50 hour stand-alone module titled ‘Sexual Diversity and the Role of Educators’ for final-year pre-service education students at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. Module development was in collaboration with 147 final-year students in 2014. This article chronicles the participatory inquiry into what pre-service educators need to be able to align their teaching practice with Section 9 of the South African constitution. Class discussions, assignments and evaluations were used to compile this reflection. As a number of visitors to class were filmed, including Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Cape Town’s openly gay Imam, Muhsin Hendricks, young people from Cape Town’s Triangle Project and gender activist Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, students gave written permission for each aspect of their participation in the course to be shared via film and written articles. By the end of the module, students concluded that: 1) space should be provided within teacher education programmes that allow students safe and critical self-reflection on their attitudes, beliefs and norms related to sexual diversity matters; 2) that un-learning is a crucial component of learning; 3) that for many, such a personal journey requires healing spaces be created; 4) that labelling of difference used to divide people is problematic no matter what the differences may be; 5) current ‘LGBTI’ labels should never be used to limit people’s expression of who they are; 6) while teachers need not embrace homosexuality, teachers must defend the right of learners and colleagues to be, and to practice, whoever they are in the wide range of sexual difference and otherwise.
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    An understanding of HIV and AIDS discourses of teachers in Cape Town, South Africa, and its' relevance for HIV prevention in schools
    (University of the Western Cape, 2010) Davids, Mogamat Noor; Lees, James; Fataar, Aslam; Meerkotter, Dirk; Faculty of Education
    This study investigates the content and nature of the HIV and AIDS "discourses" of teachers, which I have identified as a knowledge gap in the existing HIV and AIDS education literature that, presumably, is informing practice. The argument is that, without an understanding of teachers' HIV and AIDS discourses, we will continue to speculate about why HIV education often does not have the effect we expect of it - reduced HIV infection, reduced risk behaviour, reduced teenage pregnancies - and why it has been regarded as a failure by many. The public media often expose rampant teenage sexual behaviour, such as abortions, pregnancies, and an addiction for electronically generated pornographic materials, causing consternation and sending shockwaves through schools and society. These reports attest to the kind of risky sexual behavior which makes children vulnerable to HIV infection. In spite of more than twenty years of HIV and AIDS education, teachers and society at large remain uncertain and uncomfortable about teenage sexual behavior, HIV infection and the inability of adults to protect young people from sexual exploitation.