The purpose of this study was to compare western family therapy to the "imbizo" system that is used as a kind of family therapy in the black cultural environment. The "imbizo" system is different from western therapy in its composition. Relatives play a more prominent role than in western family therapy. The imbizo system provides unique support and aftercare to its clients. Unlike western therapy, it requires no payment of fees. The "imbizo" excludes children while western family therapy includes every family member as part of the system in the therapeutic process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three male respondents from the Nguni ethnic group and one male and two females from the Sotho ethnic group. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

M.Ed. / New legislation on the termination of pregnancy (Number 92 of 1996) was approved by President Mandela on 12 November 1996, and came into effect on 1 February 1997. This law allows any pregnant woman above the age of 12, thus including adolescents, to decide to have her pregnancy terminated. Furthermore, the adolescents do not need parental permission to have their pregnancies terminated. The question arising from this is the following: how do the parents, and more specifically the mother, experience the termination of their adolescent daughter's pregnancy? To explore and describe the feelings of these mothers, qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research was utilized in two phases. During Phase I, in depth phenomenological interviews were conducted. During Phase II logical inference was used to generate guidelines for educational psychologists to enable them to assist and guide these mothers whose adolescent daughters had had their pregnancies terminated. The research showed that the following themes were observed recurringly: > Shock, disillusionment and internal conflict due to the decision to have the pregnancy terminated. > Sorrow due to overwhelming emotions after the termination of the pregnancy. > Helplessness due to the inability to deal with the course of events. > Mechanisms of defense in an attempt to protect themselves. The guidelines that have been set, are as follows: > Setting of goals and rational emotive therapy. > Guidelines regarding unconditional acceptance of the mother, the verbalising of emotions and the addressing of irrational thoughts. > Guidelines to empower mothers to assist both themselves and their daughters. > Guidelines to assist mothers to apply the mechanisms of defense in a positive way.

D.Litt. et Phil. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Afrikaans: In hierdie proefskrif word die pastorale begeleiding van gesinne waarin kindermishandeling voorkom, nagevors. Die navorser het toenemend met gesinne waarin kindermishandeling voorkom te doen gekry. Daar bestaan by pastorale werkers (almal wat op een of ander wyse pastorale hulp verleen) onsekerheid en onkunde oor die begeleiding van hierdie gesinne. Daar bestaan ook 'n behoefte aan 'n pastorale benadering, aangesien kindermishandeling nog altyd binne die maatskaplike en psigologiese studievelde geressorteer het. Samelewingsprobleme, soos geweld, immorele dade en emosionele probleme gee dikwels tot kindermishandeling aanleiding. Hierdie studie neem die narratiewe benadering as uitgangspunt en wil aan die hand van enkele gevallestudies, op die bruikbaarheid van die narratiewe benadering reflekteer. Die mens word binne sy lewensverhaal en konteks verstaan, want die praktiese teologie as handelingswetenskap, kies sy uitgangspunt in die ervaringswêreld van mense en die situasie van die kerk in die samelewing. God het die mens as Sy verteenwoordiger en as kroon van die skepping gemaak. Met die sondeval het daar 'n skeiding in al die mens se verhoudings gekom. In sy genade rig God 'n verbond op waarin Hy homself aan die mens verbind. Die pastorale perspektief maak ems met die verhaal van 'n handelende Verbondsgod wat verlore mense red en in die versoeningswerk van Jesus Christus, Sy oneindige liefde vir die sondaar bewys. Die Koninkryk van God kry in elke mens gestalte as die mens die waardes van die Koninkryk erken en daarvolgens lewe. Die waardes is Iiefde, geregtigheid, vrede en hoop. In die gesin waarin kindermishandeling plaasvind, ontbreek hierdie waardes dikwels, want mishandeling is teenstrydig met God se plan vir die gesin en kinders. Deur die simbiotiese werk van die Heilige Gees word die mens in nood op die toekoms gerig, met hoop, nuwe groeipotensiaal en oorwinning. Die navorsing toon dat ‘n gesin wat met sy noodstorie van mishandeling weer oor die toekoms, onder leiding van ‘n bekende God begin droom, in die hede weer liefde, vrede, duursaamheid en veiligheid kan vind. Die benaderings van Müller en Freedman&Combs, asook die benutting van die genogram, stel pastors in staat om, saam met die gesin waarin kindermishandeling voorkom, dominante verhale te dekonstrueer en ‘n nuwe realiteit te konstrueer. English: This dissertation reports on a study of the pastoral counselling of families in which child abuse occurs. As research progressed, the researcher came into contact with increasing numbers of such families. Many pastoral workers (this includes all those who render pastoral assistance of some kind) are not adequately qualified to work with these families, and their lack of knowledge gives rise to uncertainty. There is also a need for a pastoral approach, since child abuse has always fallen with the specific fields of study of Social Science and Psychology. This study is based on the narrative approach and reflects on its usefulness by referring to a number of case studies. Since practical theology as an active science chooses as its point of departure the world as experienced by individuals, and the role of the church in society, man is viewed in the context of all his life experiences or his personal history. God created man as His representative on earth and as the pinnacle of His creation. The Fall resulted in the disintegration of man's relationship with God and with his fellow men. In His mercy God established a covenant, binding himself to mankind. The pastoral perspective is serious about this God of the Covenant who acts to save those that are lost and who, through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, demonstrates His boundless love for sinners. The Kingdom of God is reflected in every person who acknowledges the values of the Kingdom and lives according to them. These values are love, justice, peace and hope. In families where children are abused, these values are often absent, since abuse is in conflict with God's plan for the family and for children. Through the symbiotic working of the Holy Spirit, people in need are helped to face the future with hope and a new potential for growth that can ultimately lead to victory. The research revealed that a family with a history of abuse can, under the guidance of a God that they know, again begin to dream about the future and can once again experience love, peace, stability and security. The approaches followed by Müller, Freedman&Combs, as well as the use of the genogram, enable pastors to assist members of families where child abuse occurs in deconstructing dominant experiences and constructing new realities. / Thesis (PhD (Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Surveys have shown that alcohol misuse is the biggest substance misuse problem in the world today, affecting millions of people. With the disease being part of a family, all members of the family experience the distress of parental alcohol misuse. While the challenges that these families have to face are many, they seem to have the ability to “bounce back”, in other words, have resilience. There has been limited research to date on family relations and alcohol misuse in South Africa, especially in terms of the parental member as the alcohol misuser. The proposed research aimed to explore and describe the factors that facilitate adjustment and adaptation in families where a member misuses alcohol. The Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation was used to analyze the factors that enable a family to adapt to the alcohol misuse, as outlined in the broader study at the University of Stellenbosch. An exploratory descriptive research design was employed in the proposed study. For the purposes of this study, the researcher combined qualitative and quantitative research methods in order to use their complementary strengths to enrich the data obtained from the proposed study. Sixty three families were surveyed using a biographical questionnaire and seven pencil-and-paper questionnaires. These families were accessed via drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities throughout South Africa. The data from the biographical questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. The quantitative data was analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. The findings of the proposed research allow for better management of the alcohol misuser’s condition through the understanding of what resiliency areas the family may improve upon. Furthermore, the study can be used as a stepping stone for future research of resilience in families living with a parental member who misuses alcohol, and ultimately contributes to the broader context of family resilience research in South Africa. Key words: alcohol misuse, alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, family, resilience, adjustment, adaptability.

This study investigates the differential treatment efficacy of Experiential Systemic Therapy (ExST) with a comparison treatment called Supported Feedback Therapy (SFT) as it is applied to the problem of alcohol dependency. The inquiry also compares the treatment effectiveness of ExST when offered to the individual alcoholic (ExST-I) and when provided in couples therapy conjoint treatment (ExST-C). An ecological approach to assessment was developed for the investigation. Selfreport questionnaires tapping an array of areas including indices of alcohol use, intrapersonal functioning, couples adjustment, and family characteristics were employed to measure treatment effects from the perspectives of father, mother, and eldest child. Participating families met inclusion criteria including an alcoholic dependent father and a non-alcohol abusing mother in a state of marital distress residing in an intact family situation with at least one child living at home. One hundred and fourteen families were randomly assigned to participating therapists and one of three treatment conditions including ExST-I, ExST-C,or SFT. Therapy was conducted at two out-patient clinics, one located in an urban setting and the other operating in a rural context. Data were collected from all participating families before and after treatment. Data were also gathered at a three month follow-up from participants in the ExST-I and ExST-C treatment conditions. The results of the mixed model multivariate analyses indicated that there were no significant differences between ExST and SFT evident at post-treatment; however, both treatments were found to have promoted highly significant improvements on measures of drinking behavior, intrapersonal symptomology, marital adjustment and family satisfaction. When ExST-I and ExST-C were compared, the results revealed no significant differences between the treatment formats although both parents reported highly significant post treatment changes on all instruments. Additionally, the significant changes associated with ExST-I and ExST-C which were reported by both parents at post-treatment were found to be equally durable at the end of a three month follow-up. The results of the analyses based on the eldest child’s perspective showed that the assessments of family satisfaction were unaffected by the treatment conditions and remained consistent across all measurement occasions. Within system analyses which provided detailed examination of the magnitude of changes reported by both parents at post-treatment were performed. The within system results based on measures probing the assessment domains of alcohol, intrapersonal, couple and family from the father and mother perspectives, revealed that the improvements achieved by the treatments were far reaching and touched a wide array of areas in statistically significant and clinically relevant fashions. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This randomized controlled study is a preliminary investigation on the effects of Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) with 61 adoptive parents. The participants in this study identified themselves as the following: 54 European American, 3 Black American, 3 Hispanic/Latino, and 1 individual who chose not to indicate ethnicity. The study included 23 couples and 15 individual mothers. The CPRT is a structured, time limited approach that trains caregivers to be an active participant as a therapeutic change agent in their child's life. Results from a two (group) by two (measures) split plot ANOVA indicated that adoptive parents who participated in 10 weeks of CPRT reported statistically significant decreases in child behavior problems and parent child-relationship stress. Statistically significant increases in parent empathy were also reported by raters blinded to the study. CPRT demonstrated a medium to large treatment effect on reducing children's behavior problems and parent-child relationship stress. In addition, CPRT demonstrated a large treatment effect on increasing parental empathy. The results of the study provide preliminary support for CPRT as a responsive intervention for adoptive parents and their children.

No description available.

The developmental impact of the family system on a child varies according to the functional status of the family. Harter, Pamela, and Neimeyer (1988) found that sexually abused children reported perceptions of significantly less cohesion and adaptability than nonabused children within their families of origin.

Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is an empirically supported and developmentally appropriate counseling intervention for young children. Despite the clinical effectiveness of CCPT with children, no known study has been conducted in which parents were surveyed or interviewed regarding the services they have received as a part of their children’s participation in CCPT. Therefore, this study was designed to gain a better understanding of parents’ reported needs and expectations in CCPT. This study utilized Q-methodology in which participants completed a Q-sort by actively sorting 40 items on a continuum of least important to most important. Items included services and processes regarded by CCPT scholars and child therapy practitioners as being important to working with parents. Data was collected from 19 parents of children receiving CCPT services in a community-based counseling clinic. Participants included 16 females and 3 males; 15 Caucasian and 4 Hispanic; and 14 biological parents, 2 adoptive parents, and 3 other biological caregivers. Data was analyzed using centroid factor analysis, and results revealed a one factor solution representing 18 of the 19 participants. Eighteen parents reported similar beliefs regarding the processes they consider most and least important to their experience in working with child-centered play therapists. In general, parents’ beliefs aligned with CCPT philosophy, particularly in regards to respecting children’s natural pace of development and healing. Furthermore, parents shared preferences for play therapists who demonstrate expert knowledge and training and who understand the individual needs of their children. Discussion includes implications for the practice of CCPT and training of future play therapists, limitations of the study, and implications for future research.